


paint my spirit gold

by andthentheybow



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, M/M, Post-Canon, Team as Family, Temporary Character Death, no beta we die like stupid immortals, that's kind of a given, there is a happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:56:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25715416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andthentheybow/pseuds/andthentheybow
Summary: The last time Quynh sees them through her dreams of Booker, Nicolo and Yusuf are gone and Andromache has a bullet wound that isn’t healing.It takes five months for her to free herself from her underwater prison, ten months for Booker’s exile to be brought to a premature end, and ten and a half months for them to realize that Dr. Kozak lived through the escape from Merrick Pharmaceuticals.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 102
Kudos: 733





	1. i can't see your face anymore, but i can feel the waves between my ribs

**Author's Note:**

> listen i know they were setting quynh up to be a villain at the end of the movie but hear me out: what if they didn't  
> i've watched this movie like five times in the past three days and this was the result
> 
> title from 'i will wait' by mumford & sons

Quynh wouldn’t call them dreams, exactly. Does it count as dreaming if you’re not really sleeping? She isn’t sure. In her coherent moments, when she reflects on them, she refers to them as visions.

They started, by her best estimate, about three hundred years after her imprisonment. They came to her then, and still come to her now, every couple hundred thousand drownings. Brief visions, in the flashes of time when she passes out just before she dies. At first, it’s just him, a flag she’s pretty sure is France’s, a cold battlefield. Then, it’s Andromache.

Quynh never thought she would see Andromache’s face again.

Andromache must have found him, then, because suddenly she gets brief flashes of Nicolo and Yusuf, too. Somehow she’s able to garner that his name is Sebastien le Livre. Eventually they start calling him Booker. In her calmer moments, she puts the pieces together. Livre means book, in French. She assumes the nickname comes from Yusuf- he was the one that called them different things on occasion, usually humorous.

She sees changes in technology, doesn’t know what to call any of it. She assumes that they tell Booker about her, because of course he would still be dreaming of her. She’s alive, after all, even if she dies every few minutes.

Eventually, there’s a new one. Another immortal. Quynh sees one vision of her and then one more, of her sitting at a table with Nicolo and Yusuf and Booker. She gets two more visions of Booker, sees him in a cave with Andromache and the new girl and no sign of Nicolo or Yusuf. The last time she’s seeing him shoot Andromache and they both watch as the wound doesn’t close.

Of course, if there’s a new immortal, then one of the old ones is having theirs taken away. They will not be so lucky to have six of them on the planet, even if one is trapped.

The next time she has a vision of Booker, he is alone. She still has visions of the new girl- Nile. Nile is with the other three, and they are all safe, even if Andromache isn’t immortal anymore. Booker is gone. Quynh can’t piece together what happened, but she knows one thing. If Andromache isn’t immortal, she’ll eventually die of old age, and she won’t come back. Quynh will never see her again.

She fights with renewed vigor. She will escape. She will see Andromache again.

Her knees and palms are always bloodied. She doesn’t believe in anything anymore, but she prays anyways. To Nicolo’s God, to Yusuf’s Allah, to anything that Nile and Booker might believe in. She will see Andromache again.

And then one day, the lock gives on the chest of her chamber. She dies before anything else can happen, but when she wakes up and starts drowning again, her hand goes up, hits the iron, and keeps going up. It’s only a matter of time from there.

She surfaces in the middle of a body of water, no land in sight. She’s picked up by a boat, one with an engine, a day after she starts swimming with no destination in mind. They speak to her in French and she tells them her name is Quynh and she has no idea how long she has been trapped at sea. Not entirely an inaccurate statement. They tell her she should be dead. She doesn’t reply. She sleeps on the boat, and actually dreams this time. Booker, a small apartment, probably France. Easier to find than the others.

It’s 2020, the newspaper tells her. She pieces together what caused Booker’s separation- a slaughter at Merrick Pharmaceuticals, the CEO thrown out a window five months before. Likely, the man was stupid enough to attempted to kidnap the immortals. Booker probably sold them out, and now he’s exiled.

She adapts to the technology quickly. Her hands fly over keyboards in a library, consuming as much knowledge about the past five hundred or so years as she can. She goes to her broken-down safehouses, finds money and deteriorated clothes, adapts her knowledge of languages to the modern equivalent. The world is a better place than it was before her imprisonment, but it also seems much worse.

She deals with her nightmares alone. She avoids rain and bodies of water. She adjusts. She learns. And when she’s ready, she’ll know.

It’s a month later when she decides to track down Booker. It’s not a difficult task. He’s practically begging to be followed- he doesn’t expect anyone to be looking for him. If he is in exile, as she thought, then the others won’t be around. He doesn’t know about her being free. She breaks into his house easily, pours herself a drink, and waits.

She can hear him outside before the door even opens. She left it there, ajar just a crack, so he knows to expect her. She hears the bottle clatter to the ground, hears Booker curse, and then he’s standing there with his gun raised, exactly as she’s seen him for the last two hundred years. She pours herself another drink.

“Booker,” she says with a slight smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you.” She takes another sip of her drink. He doesn’t lower the gun.

“Quynh,” he says, slowly. Her name is unsure on his tongue. “How-”

“I go first, I think,” she says. “I have been dreaming of you for two hundred years. It was the only way I saw them. So what-”

“Happened?” he finishes. His gun is still raised, pointed at her head. It’s no use- it won’t kill her. She doesn’t plan on dying again for a very long time. “How much do you know about me?”

“You are Sebastien le Livre, formerly of the French army, served under Napoleon. They call you Booker. Was the nickname from Yusuf?” She smiles a bit, wants to see if her guess was right. Booker lets out a little chuckle.

“Yeah,” he says. The gun lowers slightly. “Yeah, it was. We call him Joe, now.”

“Joe,” she says quietly, testing the name. She nods. “So, what- you sold them out? For money?”

“For death,” he says miserably. He drops the gun, but keeps one hand on it. With the other hand, he gestures for her to pour him a drink. She does, and he sits down at the table. She slides the drink over, takes the other chair. “Nicky and Joe have each other. Andy and I don’t have anything like that. Nothing other than the team. Merrick- he wanted to experiment with our DNA. I thought he could find a way to kill us for real. Don’t tell me how stupid that hope was- trust me, I know.” Quynh was going to mention it, actually, but at the look on his face, she doesn’t.

“Your punishment?” she asks. She knows how the team works. If Nicolo was hurt, Yusuf would be furious. He’d want the exile to be longer. Nicolo himself would be more forgiving, would argue for less time. Nile, the new one, would probably demand the least amount of time. If Andromache is no longer immortal, she’ll play mediator.

“A hundred years,” he says. He taps the table absentmindedly. “Minus six months, now.” He swings his other hand up onto the table, the one holding the gun. “You here for revenge? To kill me?”

“No,” she says softly. “I harbor no ill will to you. You have not done anything to me.”

“And the others?” Booker asks. He pauses, fingers the trigger of his gun. Something in his gaze hardens. “If you want to hurt them, I can’t let you do that.”

“How did I seem to you?” she asks him instead. “When you dreamed of me?”

“Furious,” Booker says, after a moment. “Enraged. Maybe gone a little crazy.”

“More than a little,” she says with a soft smile. “Why do you think I’m going to hurt them?”

“Because they stopped looking for you,” Booker says after a moment. “Andy never talked about it, but Nicky and Joe… they told me they searched for decades, talked to everyone that had been on that ship, never found anything. Andy gave up after a hundred years, told them they should give up too. They’ve lived with the guilt ever since, Andy especially.”

“And they figured, if I ever did escape, I would want revenge,” Quynh deduces. “That I wouldn’t forgive them, for discontinuing their search.” He just nods, and Quynh taps her glass thoughtfully.

“Andromache. She’s…”

“Her immortality is gone,” Booker confirms, and Quynh’s heart drops.

“Then that’s why I’m here,” she says with a shrug. “I will not let her leave without a proper goodbye.”

“You’re not mad at them?” he asks, confusion evident on his face. She shrugs again.

“There may have been a time where I would have killed Andromache for giving up the search. But only because she would come back instantly. I will not be the cause of her permanent death. As for Nicolo, and Yusuf… they would search for each other until the end of time. They would search for Andromache the same amount of time as they searched for me. It’s just how it works.”

The two make eye contact across the table for a long moment. Booker seems to be analyzing her, trying to figure out if she’s telling the truth. She is. She made her peace with the fact that they had probably stopped searching a long time ago. She’s a warrior, yes, but she’s also a reasonable person. If she thought there was no hope for one of them, she would have given up after decades, too.

“Why are you here?” Booker asks after another moment. He gestures around the room, gun abandoned on the table, drink sloshing in one hand.

“You’re easier to track down,” Quynh replies. “Not exactly hiding, are you?”

“Nile- that’s the new one- she’s already been by once,” Booker says with a shrug. “I wanted to keep it easy. Just- in case.”

“Well,” Quynh says. “If she stops by again, she will find two of us.” She grins. “It’s only a matter of time before she realizes I’m no longer imprisoned. She hasn’t met me yet. She’ll continue to dream.”

Booker offers a grim smile. “I can’t see them, even if they come. You should go somewhere else to wait.”

“If I know one thing, Booker, it’s that the guard sticks together,” she says. “We are not meant to be alone.”

Booker gives her a look, as if he’s considering.

“It wasn’t a request,” she says, standing up to pour herself another drink. “I’m staying here. I meant it when I said it was nice to finally meet you. We’re going to be around for a very long time. We might as well start getting to know each other now.”


	2. simply to endure, she says, is to triumph

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from 'sold' by patricia mccormick

Nile knows the signs of depression when she sees it. She’s been through the loss of her father, she’s been through war, she knows what grief and mourning can do to people. It’s why she argues for a lesser sentence for Booker. Joe is blinded by anger, but she gets Nicky on her side enough for him to talk Joe down from an exile lasting a millennia.

She keeps working at them, all three of them. Andy agrees with her, she knows, but the punishment wasn’t given by her. She won’t disrespect Joe and Nicky’s wishes. Joe flatly refuses to discuss Booker. Nicky is on her side enough that he agrees to cover for her when she visits Booker three months after the whole debacle.

Nile can’t get him a therapist, obviously, as much as she wants to. There are too many factors, too many things that could go wrong. She does bully him into going to an AA meeting, which is a start, she figures. The real healing will only happen when he’s back with the guard. His family. After discovering that betting is one of their favorite habits, she makes a bet with Andy on how long it’ll be before Booker is back. Andy watches Joe stop getting red in the face whenever Booker comes up and bets ten years. Nile sees the look in Nicky’s eyes when she returns from visiting Booker for three days and bets five.

Neither of them think it’ll be as short as it is, but they’re only (mostly) immortal. It’s not like they can see the future.

It’s been five months since she last dreamed of Quynh. Andy tells her that the dreams will slow down, but they’ll never go away. They never did for Booker, they won’t for her. Most of her nightmares consist of horrors of the battlefield, or of the other immortals dead in countless ways. Sometimes they’re of her father. It’s been five months since she last dreamed of Quynh.

She gets flashes of it. Bright lights. Cars. A plate of food. Booker. A foreign language. She sits upright, gasping. Not because she was drowning, because she was laughing. She was living.

“What is it?” Nicky asks, already awake. He’s sliding the gun back under his pillow. Nile glances over as she catches her breath, sees that he’s squinting at her. Joe’s arm wraps more tightly around his chest, still asleep. They’re in a safehouse somewhere in Bulgaria, resting after a mission before going back to Copley’s to let him know it’s over. Andy wanders in from the living room, the only light source coming from the lantern in her hand.

“Quynh,” Nile says. Andy turns, to go sit back down, but Nicky murmurs something in Italian that has Andy stopping.

“What was different?” Nicky asks. Nile gulps.

“She’s not underwater anymore,” she says. “She’s- in a city. There were signs, in Japanese- I think it was Tokyo. She’s with Booker.”

“Is he in danger?” Andy asks. Joe is awake now, rubbing sleep from his eyes, he and Nicky both sitting up.

“No,” Nile says, shaking her head. She swings her legs over the side of the bed and rests her elbows on her knees, putting her head in her hands. “No, they were- they were laughing. They were eating together. There were- bright lights, I don’t know. It looked like they’ve been together for a while.”

The other three exchange a glance. They look back to her.

“Nothing else,” she says, knowing they’ll want more.

Immediately, all three of them break into rapid Italian. They’ve done it several times, now, and she’s not sure if they even realize they’re doing it. She’s heard Nicky and Joe talk to each other in a mash of languages too many times to count, throwing Italian and Arabic and English together in one big melting pot of words. Andy is usually more considerate to the fact that Nile doesn’t know Italian, usually redirects their rapid-fire conversations to French or English, the two languages they all know.

This conversation stays in Italian, however. Andy casts Nile a sidelong glance, and Nile gets the feeling that it’s on purpose. She didn’t know Quynh, she wanted to let Booker off with an apology- whatever they decide to do, it’s up to the three of them, and Nile will follow.

After nearly ten minutes that ends with all three of them on their feet and using rapid hand gestures that she doesn’t think she’s ever seen them use before, Nicky is sitting back down on the bed in a huff, Joe is storming out the door, and Andy slowly approaches Nile.

“What’s the decision?” she asks, turning to Andy.

“Go to Paris,” Andy says. “Quynh’s dreaming of you, too. She’ll see we’re there, they’ll come back.”

“Booker’s exile?” Nile asks, not daring to get her hopes up.

“If he’s there, he’s there,” Andy says with a shrug. She lowers her voice, probably so Nicky doesn’t hear, but the man gets up and walks out the door after Joe. “Personally, I’ll be okay with seeing him again before I die. Joe’s not thrilled.”

“They miss him,” Nile says after a moment, staring after the two. Andy huffs out something that might be a laugh.

“Understatement,” she says. “They miss him, but they’re both still upset. Thanks to you, I think, they won’t try to kill him on sight.”

“I went to see him,” Nile says. She’s grateful that Andy doesn’t say ‘I know,’ because doubtless she already does. “Got him to go to Alcoholics Anonymous. Couldn’t get him a therapist, you know.”

Andy, thousands of years old Andy, who’s seen every type of pain in existence and come out alive, laughs.

“We all need therapists,” she says, and it’s probably the most honest she’s been about her mental condition that Nile’s ever seen. They’ve left Andy alone when it comes to her mortality, even as they all stock up on medical supplies. Nile snorts.

“Kind of hard when you never know who to trust,” she says. “Copley could probably help.”

“Probably,” Andy agrees. Nicky and Joe wander back into the room, both looking exhausted, and collapse onto the bed without a word to either woman. “But that’ll be a problem for another day.”

Andy slips off, and Nile lays back down to stare at the ceiling. She knows she’s not going to sleep again tonight.

They leave early the next morning. Andy and Joe bicker about who’s going to drive the first stretch. Nicky leans against the car, lips twitched up in amusement. Every time they’ve gone anywhere that’s involved driving, they have the same argument. Nicky’s waiting to find out the result, either so he can slip into the front seat if Joe’s driving or the back if Andy is.

He gives Nile a glance as she tosses her bag and gun in the trunk, then holds the keys up with one hand. He jangles them, and the other two don’t even notice.

“How’d you get those?” Nile asks, snatching them with a grin.

“Picked them off Joe when he wasn’t looking,” Nicky replies. “Think they’ll notice if we drive off and leave them here to bicker alone?”

“Worth a shot,” she says, and Nicky grins and slides into the back.

They make it approximately fifty feet before they hear Andy and Joe start yelling behind them. Nile slams on the brakes and the two burst into laughter, even as Joe shoves Nicky over and Andy kicks Nile out of the driver’s seat.

It’s almost enough to make them forget about why they’re leaving.

Most of the beginning of the ride is in silence, with Nicky occasionally leaning forward to bully Andy about her choice in music. After an hour Nile ends up turned around in her seat, sharing stories with Joe about their times at war. Joe’s been on a kick of remembering the American Civil War, more specifically waxing poetic about how Nicky looked in the Union uniforms. Nile tries to distract him from this topic when she can, because really, she can only hear about their eternal love so many times before she starts feeling a bit jealous.

They stop for the night in Slovenia, a safehouse just outside the city of Bled. Andy claims she’s going grocery shopping, and the men drag Nile to see a castle.

“This one was built before us,” Joe points out.

“Remodeled too many times since,” Nicky scoffs.

Nile thinks it’s beautiful. She’s certain they’ll drag her to see more places, tell her about the secret history of them. She’s jealous of that, too- the fact that they got to be immortal to see the development of technology and architecture and everything like that. She’s sure she will, too, but she’ll also be around to see the fallout of global warming and stupid politicians that care more about money and power than their people.

They also drag her to the huge lake, where tourists abound even at night, and to get vanilla and cream pastries, which they claim the area is known for.

“This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” Nile says through a full mouth, and they both grin and exchange a look, like she hasn’t seen (or tasted) anything yet. When they get back to the safehouse, Andy has more pastries waiting with a guilty grin. Joe actually cheers.

The safehouse actually looks well maintained, and Nicky confesses he and Joe spent about a month here shortly before Nile joined the team. There are two bedrooms, king-sized beds in both, and Nile actually moans as she collapses on top of the sheets, still in her jeans. Andy laughs and shoves her off the bed and she actually gets a good night’s sleep for once.

Joe drives the next day, he and Nicky talking in rapid-fire Arabic the whole drive. Andy picks up a book on Italian when they make a pit-stop for gas in Austria to give to Nile- they’ve been teaching her the basics, but no offense to any of them, they’re kind of bad at it. Nile is pretty sure Andy’s forgotten more languages than currently exist in the world. Nicky told her once that he and Joe learned to speak each other’s languages through crude gestures, decades of practice, and the discovery that they both knew a bit of Latin.

They make it to Paris just after eight at night. Even though she’s seen it twice now, it doesn’t fail to take Nile’s breath away. Joe mutters something in what Nile thinks is Persian that makes Nicky laugh and Andy almost crack a smile. It’s clearly an insult, and she thinks she catches Booker’s name, but Nile doesn’t push it.

They stay in another safehouse, different than the Charlie house (which they burned down the second time Nile went to Paris). They’ve already got Booker’s address, thanks to Copley, but none of them really feel like seeking it out when it’s getting dark.

Nile wakes up and Andy is already gone from the bed. There are leftover pastries that they wolf down before walking to the address Copley’s given them.

The place is, to say the least, shitty. Joe picks the lock carefully to let them into a small kitchen. There’s a sitting area, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The whole place looks like it’s been carefully maintained, despite how crappy it is, but there hasn’t been anyone living there for a month, at least. The biggest shocker is that there’s not a drop of alcohol in sight.

“Guys,” Nicky says, and Joe and Andy abandon their fruitless search for something stronger than soda to join him in the small sitting area. Nile has already made her way over to find him staring down at a small photograph he took off of a table next to the couch. There are two figures visible in the photo, standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower- one of them is easily recognizable as Booker wearing a black beanie with a bullet hole in the front. The other is a gorgeous Vietnamese woman in a long red coat. She’s beaming; Booker has a small, soft smile.

“Quynh,” Joe breathes out, one hand clutching Nicky’s shoulder, one hand clutching Nile’s. He squeezes, and when Nile turns, she’s entirely shocked that his gaze isn’t filled with anger at seeing Booker; it’s awe at seeing Quynh.

“She’s really pretty,” Nile lets out softly, and Nicky lets out a laugh.

“Don’t let Andy hear you say that,” he whispers back. Andy is too completely enraptured with the picture to notice what they’re talking about. Joe casts her a glance and a wink. Nile recognizes the look in Nicky’s eyes instantly- Quynh and Andy may not have as destined a bond as Joe and Nicky, but it’s a deep, deep bond of the same kind nonetheless. She smiles, and Nicky smiles back.

“She’s really here,” Andy breathes out. “Alive.” She’s got both hands on the photograph now, and none of them say anything when she pockets it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bled, Slovenia is a very real, very sexy place  
> also a small note on Quynh/Noriko: the actress that portrayed Quynh in the movie, Veronica Ngo, is Vietnamese, which is why Noriko from the comics, who is Japanese, became Quynh, who is Vietnamese. for this fic, Quynh is Vietnamese.


	3. every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is a quote from tryon edwards

Nile’s next dream of Quynh comes three days later, and this time, she’s on a plane. That’s all Nile gets before she’s shaken awake by Andy.

Currently, she’s on the couch in Booker’s apartment. She’s made it to the bed before Joe and Nicky every night so far, but they’ve always bullied her out by being disgustingly cute with each other. Andy, for her part, hasn’t once let Nile give her the couch and still hasn’t complained about it.

“You were screaming, kid,” Andy says when Nile gives her a look. Nile closes her eyes with a groan and finds a pillow to shove over her face. Before Quynh, she’d been dreaming of Afghanistan, of watching her sisters fall into the dust covered in blood.

“They’re on a plane,” Nile says as she tries to scrub the imagery from her mind. “They’re on their way.”

She hears Andy get up, wake up Joe and Nicky. A flight from Tokyo to Paris is a little less than thirteen hours, they checked. If they’re already on a plane, they’ll be here within the day. Someone starts making breakfast. The door opens and closes. Nile keeps the pillow pressed over her eyes.

Eventually, she feels a weight settle near her lungs. Someone grabs one of her hands and pulls it down, holding it comfortingly.

“It doesn’t ever get better, does it?” Nile asks. She already knows the answer.

“No,” Nicky confirms. She lifts the pillow off of her face to find him watching a small clock. In the kitchen, Joe starts to hum.

“Just because we keep living doesn’t mean we stop hurting,” Nile mutters under her breath.

“Did Booker tell you that?” Nicky asks. Joe stops humming.

“Yeah,” she mutters.

“It sounds like something he would say.”

Joe starts humming again.

“Where’d Andy go?” she asks. Nicky offers her his other hand and pulls her up. She notes Andy’s labrys still on the kitchen table, along with a fair amount of guns. Nicky’s longsword is leaning against one of the kitchen cabinets. Joe’s scimitar is already strapped to his back.

“Med supply run,” Nicky answers. “Just in case.”

“Is that why there are weapons everywhere?” Nile asks, raising one eyebrow. “You’re preparing for a fight?”

“Yes,” Nicky says simply.

“You said it yourself,” Joe calls. “You feel her rage. She’s gotta direct it somewhere.”

Nile sits down at the table, trying to rearrange the weaponry to make a spot for food. Joe sets a plate of scrambled eggs down in front of her with a smile.

“Something’s wrong,” he says quietly, like it’s not a question. By now, Nile knows better than to hide things from them. They figure her out way too easily. She hasn’t been around long enough to hide her emotions like Andy does, like Booker does.

“I don’t know how to explain it,” she tells them. Nicky takes a seat across from her. Joe leans on the back of his chair. “I don’t want- I’m not just filling in the gap Booker left, right?” Because Booker was their technology guy, and now Nile is. Because Booker was the army deserter, and now it’s Nile.

“No,” Nicky answers instantly. “Just as Booker was not filling in the gap that Quynh left. Just as we did not fill the gap that Lykon left. We create our own gaps, our own little spaces. Someday there will be immortals that only know of us from stories, yet our gaps will always be there. It is the way of things. When they return-”

“Provided that they don’t try to kill us,” Joe interrupts, as if he and Nicky are thinking the same thing. Maybe they are.

“Then there will be six filled gaps instead of our four,” Nicky finishes.

“And you say I’m the poet.” Nicky looks up with a look that Nile knows all too well. She takes that as her cue to grab her eggs and eat them outside.

Andy returns half an hour later with a bag full of gauze and painkillers. She glances between Nile, sitting on the steps with an empty plate, and the closed door.

“That bad?” she asks.

“Wanted to get out before it started,” Nile responds, and Andy chuckles. She pounds on the door twice before Joe opens it innocently.

“Hey, boss, welcome back.” He opens the door wider, and Andy rolls her eyes as she strides in. Nile grabs the plate and follows.

If anything, there are more weapons on the table than there were to begin with. She knows better than to ask how many weapons they have on them at all times- the answer is always ‘a lot’. Within five hours, almost every gun and knife has disappeared. Nile is pretty sure she sees Joe stick a knife to the bottom of his boot.

They sit in the kitchen tersely, each of them holding one weapon (a large gun for Nile, her favorite, she’s had it since Merrick). They’re honestly expecting Quynh to try and kill them. Joe mutters three hours in that he’s half-convinced Booker might try and help. When the door finally flies open, it’s almost the exact opposite of what they’re expecting.

Quynh enters first, Booker taking a step back as she takes a step forward. She’s got a fading smile as she turns and faces the four of them. Andy is sitting at the table, labrys clutched in both hands. Joe and Nicky are both leaning on the counter, weapons sheathed for now. Nile is leaning against the door to the bedroom, loosely holding her gun, staying in the background. Quynh is obviously taking them all in, analyzing.

She’s even prettier in person, Nile thinks. She’s got her hair up in a loose ponytail, wearing jeans and a comfortable-looking sweatshirt that looks like it came from a souvenir shop in New York. Nile doesn’t miss the bulge of a handgun in her back pocket, nor the quiver of arrows and bow that she has on her back along with her duffel bag.

Everyone is silent. All four of them are watching Quynh. Nile notes that the other three look like they’re about to start crying. Quynh’s eyes continue scanning the room. They hover on Nile, and Nile offers the slightest of smiles, adjusting her grip on her gun.

And then the spell is broken. Quynh breezes straight past everyone else in the room to approach Nile, holding out a hand.

“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you,” Quynh says. Nile shakes her hand, and Quynh pulls her in for an actual hug. Nile’s eyes widen, watching Andy, who’s covering her mouth with one hand. “I didn’t think there would be two of you so soon, but here we are.” She pulls back, keeping both hands on Nile’s shoulders. “Nile, right?”

“Right,” Nile says carefully, cautiously. 

“You really do look like a baby. So young.” She offers a smile, her words not unkind. The other three are all waiting with bated breath. Slowly, slowly, Quynh turns back.

And walks past the three of them again, going to the fridge.

“Book, did we leave any apple juice?”

Booker doesn’t enter the room, remains a foot back from the doorway, pointedly ignoring everyone. He just grunts in response to Quynh’s question. Quynh closes the fridge, stands up, turns around. Andy is on her feet now, labrys abandoned on the table.

“Quynh,” she lets out, saying it like a prayer.

“Don’t,” Quynh says immediately. “You did what I would have done. I do not blame you for my imprisonment.”

“I blame myself,” Andy says, and Nile sees a tear fall from her eye. “Every waking moment. Quynh, you-”

“I’m here now,” Quynh says, still looking so composed, so effortless. She glances around again, makes eye contact with Joe and Nicky, then slowly lets her bag and weapons slide to the ground. “Andromache. I’m here now.” She opens her arms slowly, tentatively.

Andy bursts into tears as she dives into Quynh’s arms. They clutch each other like the world depends on it, like everything else doesn’t exist. Five hundred years is a long time, Nile thinks. Andy is full-on sobbing now, which is really something Nile thought she would never see. Quynh also has tears streaming down her face, clutching Andy just as hard. Nile has to tear her eyes away, feeling like she’s intruding on something much too private. Five hundred years of emotion trying to be poured into a single gesture.

Joe reaches a hand out for Nicky, both of their eyes on Quynh. Booker takes a step closer to the door. Nile studies him carefully- his stubble looks clean-shaven instead of haggard. The circles under his eyes are lesser than she’s ever seen him. He’s got a new jacket and what looks like a first-edition Don Quixote clutched in one hand. He meets her eyes and glances away.

After several more long minutes, Quynh pulls back from Andy. All eyes are on her again as she clutches Andy’s face in her hands, beaming, laughing, still crying.

“I had to see you again,” Quynh says. “I had to.”

“You’re here,” Andy says.

“I’m here,” Quynh repeats. She pulls back, locks her eyes on Nicky, and in seconds is diving on top of him. Nile hears Nicky muttering something that sounds like ‘my sister’ in Italian over and over again as he picks her up and sways her back and forth, but when she pulls him away she gives him a swift kick to the shin.

Nile starts forward, about to raise her gun, but Nicky is laughing. Quynh whirls on Joe, who picks her up and spins her around, letting out a happy sound. Quynh kicks him, too, when he puts her down, and Nile actually hears the crack of bone and figures Quynh’s boots are probably steel-toed.

“So you’re not going to kill us,” Joe says, grinning.

“Yusuf,” Quynh says, making a happy sound. “I am not your Nicolo. Booker has told me you searched for a hundred years, which is fifty more than I would have.”

“That one hurt,” Joe says, wincing a bit, but he’s still grinning.

“I have made my peace,” Quynh announces to the room. “You obviously expected me to want a fight. But it’s not like you didn’t search for me at all. And I am here now.” She gives the room a quick once-over. “I believe I will have a long talk with Andromache. Please leave.”

Nile nearly trips with how fast she goes to leave the room. Nicky and Joe are a bit slower, Nicky stopping to squeeze Quynh’s upper arm. The second the door closes, Nile launches herself on Booker and notices the most stark difference of all- he doesn’t reek of alcohol.

“Did you get sober?” she asks, grinning at him. He gives her a sheepish smile.

“Yeah,” he says. “Relapsed once or twice, you know how it goes. But yeah.”

“I’m proud,” she says, and she pulls back, knowing that Joe and Nicky are probably just staring, staring, staring. Booker looks anxious, hesitant, like he wants to leave more than anything in the world. Then Nicky starts forward, pulling Booker into a hug and muttering something in Italian. Nile catches the phrases ‘piece of shit’ and ‘asshole’ (they had no trouble teaching her colorful language), and she also sees the single tear that Booker quickly wipes away. Nicky pulls back as fast as he’d moved forward, leaving Joe and Booker in a stare-down.

“I understand that we failed you,” Joe says, clearing his throat. “Spectacularly. We weren’t there for you when you needed it, brother.” Booker’s face reflects Nile’s internal shock at his words. “That being said, you didn’t have to sell the rest of us out with you.”

“I know my punishment,” Booker mutters. “I brought you Quynh- I’ll leave for another ninety-nine years-”

“No,” Joe interrupts. “I haven’t forgiven you. But I will. And I’ll hold it over you as long as we live.” He’s got the barest hint of a smile. Booker’s nostrils flare, obviously trying to keep himself from grinning. Nicky’s looking at Joe like he’s never been more proud.

“Damn,” Nile says after a moment. “Guess I did get to you after all.” This garners a few chuckles, which she’s glad for. Ice: successfully broken. “How long do you think they’re gonna be?”

“Long,” Nicky answers. “It would do us well to leave altogether.”

“No use,” Booker says. “Only things around here are bars, and I’ve been avoiding those.”

“Right here, then,” Nile announces, sitting on the staircase. She gestures for Booker to sit down next to her. “What were you up to in Tokyo?”

“You know, a little of this, little of that,” he says with a shrug. “We’ve been going around. Seeing all the sights.”

“We saw your photograph,” Nicky tells him. “You looked happy. It’s a good look on you.” Booker flushes.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters. “I’m gone ten months and you all get sappy on me.”

“You need it,” Nile says, bumping Booker’s shoulder with hers. She eyes Joe and Nicky, sitting on the ground across from them. “All of you.”

They spend the next hour talking about everything they’ve been up to- or rather, Nile and Booker talk. Nicky occasionally adds on to Nile’s stories. Most of the time he and Joe just do that thing where they have whole conversations with only their eyes, which used to annoy Nile, but she’s already gotten used to it. The door flies open just as Nile is finishing up a story about their latest mission, which involved her getting shot at least six times because Andy was too focused on the political hostage they were rescuing.

“Hey,” Andy says. Her eyes are still a bit red, but she’s grinning. “What kind of takeout do we want for dinner?”

“Ten bucks says we see a hickey by the end of the night,” Joe leans in and mutters to Nile as Nicky enthusiastically points out how disappointing every fast food place in a twenty-mile radius is.

“You’re on,” Nile mutters back. She really hopes Andy has a bit of discretion- she lost her last bit of money three weeks previous in a different bet with Joe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really into nile having the only brain cell and bullying the guard into getting therapy


	4. the only redeeming quality of the universe is its indifference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title from 'savages' by don winslow

It takes Copley less time than they thought to figure out something’s going on.

Maybe it’s because they were supposed to be checking in with him after a mission before getting distracted by Nile’s changing dreams of Quynh. Maybe it’s because the burner phone only Andy was allowed to touch somehow got destroyed in the middle of what was supposed to be a Star Wars marathon (something Booker hadn’t gotten around to showing Quynh yet, which both Nile and Joe deemed an atrocity). Or maybe it’s because when they finally do manage to get to Copley’s house for the post-mission check-in, they’re in a large van instead of the usual smaller car.

No matter what the cause is, Copley is waiting for them when they arrive. He looks anxious, almost, if one could be anxious when the people they work with can’t die (sans Andy, but they’re certain she’ll keep living out of sheer force of will anyways). He’s already got one eyebrow raised as Nicky, Joe, and Nile climb out of the car, bickering loudly over whether the prequels or the sequels for Star Wars were better. It’s not an unusual occurrence- the unusual occurrence comes when more people follow Nile out of the van. Andy just rolls her eyes as she strolls past Copley into the house. The three arguing ignore him.

“Booker,” Copley says, looking extremely surprised. “I thought-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Booker mutters, waving him off. “I’m already regretting getting sober.” He pauses and turns back to the woman that Copley doesn’t recognize, not from any of his collected photographs or stories he’s managed to get out of the others.

“Hello,” she says politely, her voice accented. “I’m Quynh.” She holds out a hand, and Copley shakes it, still a bit astonished.

“James Copley,” he replies. “Are you another new one?”

“No. I’m another old one.” With that, she breezes past him into the house. He just stares for a moment before Nile calls his name, asking if he’s coming in or what.

“Hold on,” he says, rushing up the stairs of his home. The six (six!) of them are already waiting patiently. Quynh is admiring the board that he’s kept up, gathering more evidence of their good deeds. He’s back two hundred years now, which hasn’t been an easy task. Booker is looking enviously at the bottle of hard liquor that Nile is slipping into a cabinet out of reach.

“Yeah,” Andy says. She turns to him with what he’s come to know as That Look on her face, the one that says she knows exactly what you’re thinking because she’s heard it all before. “Quynh- dropped off the map five hundred years back. You won’t have any evidence of her.”

Quynh turns and smiles brightly. “I’m older than Joe and Nicky, though. So I’m not new.”

Copley has many, many questions. He knows he probably won’t get any of them answered. Especially considering what else he needs to tell them- he’s certain they can read it on his face, the nervous tics they’re bound to have picked up on by now, even as he takes a steadying breath to keep himself calm.

“Alright,” he says eventually. “So- there are six of you now. Quynh, you’re-”

“Very much still immortal,” Nile interjects. She’s watching his hands, fidgeting, and he can tell she wants him to just say it. “The mission went fine.”

“Obviously there have been some updates to the team,” Joe says. He looks like he’s going to continue, but Nicky puts a hand on his arm. Andy is already taking a step forward. He’s not trying to hide the look on his face- it seems that the worst times for new people to arrive to the guard are exactly the times they come.

“What did you do?” Andy’s growling at Copley, one hand going for her gun. Booker sits up. Nile tenses.

“Nothing,” Copley says. “I swear, I didn’t do anything. But someone reached out to me-”

“Not Merrick,” Booker says, looking hopeless.

“Not Merrick.” Nicky is studying Copley, like he already knows. “The doctor.”

“The one I knocked out,” Nile remembers. “She made it out?”

“Dr. Meta Kozak,” Copley confirms. “She reached out to me- wanted me to turn you in- I refused.”

“And what can she do?” Joe asks. “We took out Merrick’s personal army. I regret not going back to finish her off.”

“Most CEOs these days-” Copley starts, but Nile finishes for him.

“Have their own personal army.” Copley nods in agreement.

“You haven’t been keeping up with Merrick Pharma, have you?” Copley asks. All six of them are staring back at him blankly. “He left everything to his brother and Kozak. Including any knowledge of the five of you. Quynh, I suppose, is safe.”

Copley, much like Nile, is very used to them suddenly speaking in different languages with each other. As far as he can tell, their favorite is some outdated form of Italian that Nile usually just zones out for. This time, they’re using French, seemingly so all six of them can be included in the conversation. Copley himself knows plenty of French, but he doesn’t think they’ve figured that out, so he sits back as they argue about whether they should go into hiding for a bit or just flat-out storm Merrick Pharma and finish the problem off once and for all. Joe and Andy are passionately arguing for finishing it off, Nicky’s half-heartedly saying they should go into hiding. Nile and Quynh butt in and evidently Nicky consents, because Andy and Joe look victorious.

“They’re still operating out of the same building?” Andy asks, still in French.

“They repaired the penthouse and operations have continued as normal,” Copley replies, automatically also in French. He flushes as he realizes his mistake. Nicky howls with laughter and elbows Booker, who reluctantly hands over a fair chunk of money. Joe curses and gives Nicky a look that Copley really, really doesn’t want to think that much into.

“Smart choice not selling us out,” Andy says with a firm nod, back in English. “We’ll be in contact. Obviously we can’t meet here, they know where you live.”

“Alright,” Copley says.

“Oh, we need another one of those phones,” Joe adds. “We broke the last one.”

“Right.” Of course they did.

Ten minutes later finds them making their way back into the car, Andy still in the driver’s seat. The second they’re driving away from Copley’s house, everyone starts talking at once.

“I got it, I got it,” Joe says loudly. “Quynh. What did you think?”

“His research is impressive,” Quynh admits. “And he seems trustworthy enough. I think he’s figured out you can do more good for the world by being in it, rather than locked away in a lab.”

“And thank everything for that!” Joe says passionately. “Andy?”

“How are we going to do this?” she asks. “Do we think Kozak would sell us out? How many other people know about us?”

“No,” Nicky says quietly. “She wouldn’t sell us out.” All eyes are on him, but his eyes are on Joe. “The look on her face, when Merrick stabbed you-”

“Merrick stabbed you?” Nile interrupts, but Nicky ignores her.

“She wants recognition. Fame. ‘The Nobel Prize,’ she said. She wouldn’t sell us out. It’s like last time- only the top people at Merrick’s company will know. Including whoever Merrick’s brother is.”

The car is silent, their smiles faded.

That’s when the explosion happens.

It comes from underneath them, flipping the car over. The air is filled with the sounds of shattering glass, crunching metal, and all of them screaming. There’s silence for a minute, then a string of curses as Nile pulls herself out of the passenger seat. She’s covered in blood and has her gun already raised, scanning the trees around them, but there’s no sign of anything.

Booker is the next to pull himself out through the rear window, half of his arm still knitting itself back together. He reaches in to drag Quynh out, and she’s on her feet the second she’s out of the car.

“Andy!” Nile yells at them, and they both rush to the front. Joe rushes over to meet her, a large gash in his forehead closing up. He studies the car intently, calls for Booker. Quynh is dragging Andy out of the car, and Booker rushes over.

“They must’ve stuck ‘em on the bottom of the car while we were with Copley,” Booker curses. All six of them are out now, Nicky and Quynh hovering over Andy worriedly.

“Is she okay?” Nile asks.

“Fine!” Andy calls, and the group lets out a collective huff of relief. “Everyone on high alert!”

“Did we bring the vest?” Nicky yells, and Nile almost laughs at the sound of Andy trying to avoid Nicky forcing the bulletproof vest they bought months ago onto her.

“You see anything?” Joe mutters to Nile. He’s got his gun raised next to her, shifting so that they’re standing back-to-back.

“Nothing,” Nile says. “Either they’re watching us, or they took off when they realized we don’t stay down that long.”

Nile can think of four options, and none of them are good. They could continue on the road and probably get attacked again; head out into the wilderness and see how far they can make it before probably getting attacked again; stay where they are and probably get attacked again; or go back to Copley’s and figure out a plan from there. Probably while getting attacked again.

“Go back to Copley’s,” Joe mutters, like he’s reading her mind. “Get another car, try again.”

“Or wait for them to come to us.” Andy is joining them now, not looking much worse for wear. Nicky is yelling at her in rapid Italian, probably to hold still while he puts a bandage on her forehead. Nile snorts.

“We kill them here, we kill them there,” Joe shrugs. “Either way, they’ve bumped up the timeline.”

“Not necessarily a good thing, Joe,” Nile admonishes. “We could head back to Copley’s, we’d be less out in the open that way-”

Thank God, Nile thinks, that they hear the roar of an engine when they do and that it comes from the car that Copley’s driving straight at them.

“I heard the explosion,” he yells as he slams on the brakes. “Get in!”

Andy stumbles as she walks, and without hesitation Quynh ducks under one of her arms. Nile, honestly, loves watching them- how easily they slip back into their old habits around each other. Quynh has been an excellent addition to the team, in Nile’s opinion. It seems like she also has half a brain cell, which Nile takes to mean their team now has one whole brain cell. Incredible.

Quynh helps Andy slide into the passenger seat and then, realizing that Copley’s car is not going to be able to fit seven people easily, shoves Andy over a little more so that she can get in the front, too. Nile keeps her gun raised on one side of the car, Joe on the other, as Nicky and Booker both clamber into the backseat. The second that they’re all shoved inside, Copley hits the gas and takes off.

“Get us out of here,” Andy mutters from the front. Nile doesn’t know if she means away from the crash site or out of this car. Andy doesn’t even have the worst of it- Quynh is situated carefully on her lap. Nile’s got the three boys in the backseat, all of them shoving each other to try and get the most room. She swears she would kill them if she could.

“Where are we going?” Copley asks as soon as they’re back on civilized roads. “Do you have a safehouse, or-”

“Book’s apartment,” Andy says.

“If they’re there-” Booker starts.

“Our shit is there,” Andy says sternly. “Which we need if we’re going to take on this fucking company again.”

“We could do it with our bare hands if we really tried,” Joe mutters. Somehow, he’s ended up in Nicky’s lap, feet sprawled over Nile and Booker. Nile isn’t exactly pleased. Booker just looks relieved Joe isn’t flinching away from him.

“And we’re not going to, because we’re not stupid,” Quynh bites back before anyone else can say anything. Andy laughs. For what feels like the thousandth time, Nile thanks God for bringing her back.

They get into Booker’s apartment with no troubles- it seems like the place hasn’t even been touched. They gather most of their things and send Copley on his way, promising to stay in touch- they don’t want to drag him into this more than they have to. Nile follows behind the group as they attempt to blend in. Paris makes it easy, what with the tourists everywhere, though the large weapons they’re all carrying makes it a bit harder.

“I feel like part of a band,” Quynh says to Nile proudly. Instrument cases have been the easiest for transporting shit like longswords and the labrys, and they’ve all started doing it.

“We kind of are a band,” Nile replies, and the two chuckle.

“Nile!” Joe calls. “We’re taking bets on which of us is going to get kidnapped first! You want in?”

“That seems like a morbid thing to bet on,” Nile remarks. She glances around- not one of the people walking past them on the street seems to pay any attention to them or their topic of conversation.

“All in good fun.” Joe flashes a grin, and Nile and Quynh hurry to catch up with them as Andy leads them, once again, off the grid.


	5. the wind makes you ache in some place that is deeper than your bones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is a quote from stephen king

They make it as far as the safehouse just outside of Stuttgart, Germany. Andy claims it’ll be a good opportunity to practice her German, which of course is already near-perfect. Joe, Nicky, and Booker know bits and phrases- a lot of curses, some basic questions and answers. Quynh and Nile know none, so they elect to just stay in the safehouse and get it fit for human life when the others go out in search of food and other supplies.

Of course, not much is open at midnight when they arrive, so they just dust off the beds and say they’ll go in the morning. Nile watches their sleeping patterns closely- they haven’t changed much since Quynh and Booker came back, but they’ve changed a little. Most of the safe houses have room for four, and they’re now travelling with six.

Nicky and Joe always take the largest bed, Nicky in front of Joe, always. Nile asked them about it once, jokingly, and was regaled with a story about how they didn’t always sleep like that. When startled awake, the first thing Joe reaches for is Nicky. The first thing Nicky reaches for is the gun he keeps under his pillow. Apparently, Joe as the little spoon got them killed a few too many times, so they switched it up. Neither seem to have any problems, as long as they’re together.

Booker usually just reclines on any available surface, one hand on the gun in his waistband. Sleeping is the only time Nile sees him really peaceful. Quynh’s taken to just sleeping near wherever Booker or Andy are- she wakes up a lot, like Nile, like all of them, but she always comes to with a gasp and a need for fresh air. Andy, as usual, remains on high alert even when she’s asleep in whatever upright position she can find.

Nile just does her best to sleep. They all have trauma, they all have nightmares, she figures it’s just the way it is. Sometimes she’s stirred awake to Joe and Nicky talking quietly in the language that’s all theirs, sitting up and whispering to each other. Sometimes she jerks up and goes outside to find Quynh already there, just enjoying the night air. Sometimes she sits up with screams on her lips and her heart pounding, and Booker or Andy or both of them will find her a glass of water and sit at the foot of her bed until she feels safe enough to fall asleep.

It’s a good thing they’ve got going. It doesn’t change at this safehouse.

The next day, Nile awakens to a loud fight in German, seemingly the others practicing for going out. Quynh is watching with an amused look, and the look stays until they’re well out the door.

Nile likes Quynh a lot, and she’s going to keep reiterating it to the older woman as much as possible. Quynh, for her part, seems to like Nile perfectly fine. She treats her a bit like a baby, but Nile is used to being babied by now, even though everyone knows she’s perfectly capable. She and Quynh get along great, which is reflected by the fact that Quynh waits until everyone else is gone to bring up her worries to Nile.

“These people that are after us,” she says. “They don’t know about my existence, right?”

“Not unless they were watching us when they blew up the car,” Nile shrugs. “They might think you’re like Copley. A mortal that’s working with us.”

“I have been captured before,” Quynh says with a heavy sigh. “I would quite like to not be captured again.”

“You won’t,” Nile says, and she’s filled with such a righteous fury that she knows as long as they both live (which will be a while), she’s not going to let anything happen to Quynh. Even, especially, if it means diving on the grenade that gets launched through the window of the safehouse.

Dying by explosion is a painful, painful process. Nile has died that way twice now, and it isn’t any better the second time. When she wakes up, most of her organs are outside of her body, and the pain is fucking unbearable. She grits her teeth and drags herself under the nearest table, waiting, watching. Quynh is poking her head out from beyond the doorway, eyes locked on Nile. Nile just nods, feeling her stomach knitting itself back together, and they both wait.

Nothing happens.

Quynh manages to find a gun and slide it to Nile. Nile holds it in front of her as her skin finishes closing- it’s a shame, she liked this shirt.

“What are they waiting for?” Quynh hisses in French.

“I don’t know,” Nile replies. She keeps her gun trained on the door, hidden under the table. There’s a sudden pounding on it, and Quynh ducks behind the doorway.

“Nile!” Nicky’s voice yells.

“Here!” Nile yells back, not even pausing to consider it might be a trap. It’s not, though, and Nicky rushes into the house with a bag full of groceries.

“I was on my way back, I heard the explosion,” he says, dropping the bag on the nearest chair and reaching out to help Nile up. “What happened?” He’s looking at her torn-up shirt with concern, but she brushes it off.

“Someone threw a grenade through the window, I jumped on it,” Nile says. Then, loudly, “I don’t know why, it’s not like anyone else is here.” She squeezes Nicky’s hand, hard, and he nods in realization. He purses his lips.

“I think the others are going to be a few more hours,” he says, just as loudly. “Something about a German movie I wasn’t interested in.” He’s still gripping one of her hands, but he’s turning toward the window. She remains staring at him. He stops, squeezes her hand. He sees something.

“Well, thanks for coming back to give me some company,” Nile says, emphasizing the last word. Nicky nods, once. He definitely sees something- or someone.

“They’re waiting for me to turn,” Nicky mumbles. “You have the gun?”

“Ready,” Nile whispers back. Nicky turns, and someone shoots.

The bullet catches him in the shoulder, but Nile is already tossing him the gun and dropping to the ground. Nicky catches it and whirls around, firing rapidly out the window. Nile can hear bullets hitting flesh, hitting armor, and then there’s another grenade being launched through the window. Nicky curses and this time he’s the one to dive on top of it, dropping the gun. Nile winces at the explosion, grabbing the gun and launching herself to her feet to fire back.

She really thinks they should be better prepared for this kind of thing, because as soon as she takes one bullet in the arm and another in the leg, a canister comes flying through the window. She drops the gun and dives for the door Quynh was behind as gas starts filling the room.

“Hide!” she hisses. “They can’t know you’re here!”

Nile slams the door shut without even bothering to check if Quynh heard her and stumbles back over to Nicky. Her bullet wounds have healed, but she can feel the gas in her lungs. Nicky’s entire upper body is a mess of blood and gore that’s slowly piecing itself back together, and Nile almost loses her breakfast as she sinks to her knees.

Her last thought before the gas clouds her mind is that this time, Merrick Pharma is going to have to deal with an even angrier family of warriors. It’s almost enough to make her smile.

Andy is in the middle of checking out a huge bag of medical supplies when she feels a sinking feeling in her gut. In the checkout lane next to her, she can see Booker tense.

Joe is already running out the store, bag of purchases left behind.

She finishes paying quickly and grabs Joe’s bag as she and Booker rush to catch up with him. He’s going straight for the safehouse, a little cabin lodged in a patch of woods outside the town they’re in, and he only slows down as they can see it through the trees. He draws his gun, Andy and Booker mimicking his movements. They can see smoke coming out of one of the windows, and they all know that’s not a good sign.

“Be careful,” Andy says. “They could still be inside. Joe, you take the back. Booker, with me.” Guns raised, they carefully move toward the house. Booker kicks the door in, and they can hear Joe do the same to the back. Inside, it’s still filled with smoke. Andy coughs, turning back to get fresh air, and Booker goes straight inside without hesitation. As it clears up, Andy pulls her shirt over her nose and mouth and follows him in.

They meet up with Joe at the door to the bedroom. “Nothing,” he says, his voice shaky with rage. He nods to the bedroom door, and Andy kicks it open. There’s a fair amount of gas that must have seeped in through under the door, and an unconscious Quynh clutching Andy’s labrys hidden under one of the beds.

“Quynh!” Booker yells. He drops his gun and immediately starts dragging her out. She awakens and starts hacking as he goes, and the four of them make their way outside. Booker hands a shaking Quynh off to Andy, and he and Joe circle around them, waiting for the attackers to make any other move.

“Quynh,” Andy says, holding her tightly as she continues coughing. “Quynh, you’re okay, you need to breathe, please, breathe with me-”

It’s several more minutes before Quynh starts taking normal breaths again, still holding tight to the weapon. Andy carefully pries it from her hands, never once letting go of her.

“Quynh,” she says slowly. “What happened?”

“There was a grenade,” she says. “Nile jumped on it, I hid- Nicky came back- there was another bang and Nile told me to stay hidden no matter what, so I- I did.” She looks near tears. “I was going for my arrows and I found- I found this attached to one of them.” She holds out a small metal device. Booker glances back and curses.

“It’s a tracker,” he confirms. Andy crushes it in one fist. Booker looks slightly impressed.

“We’ll check everything else and run,” Andy says.

“Run where?” Joe demands. “If they’ve got Nicky and Nile-”

“We’re going to be smart about it, Joe,” Andy scowls. “We’ll be strategic. We know where they probably are, and we’ve got Copley this time.”

“They’re taking them to be tortured-” Joe starts.

“And we’ll be no use to them if we’re in the same place!” Andy cries. “We need to get out of the open, because they probably don’t know about Quynh yet and we’re going to keep it that way, do you hear me? Back in the house, I’m standing guard, check everything and then we’re going.” Her tone is stern by the end of it, and even though they can all see the impending breakdown behind Joe’s eyes, he follows her orders.

“Quynh,” Andy says. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Quynh says. She’s stopped shaking and sits up straight, reaching for Andy’s handgun. “It’s my fault, I should’ve checked my arrows when we left Paris, I should’ve been there to stop them being taken, I-”

“They kept you safe,” Andy says. “We’re not going to let you be taken.”

“But this is exactly what happened to me and I just let them-”

“You cannot blame yourself, Quynh. You’re no help to them if you’re captured too. Last time this happened, I made a promise, to get them back no matter what. I’m making that same promise again- no matter what happens, I’m going to keep this family together. No matter what.”

The two of them have an intense stare-off for a moment. Quynh takes a deep breath.

“No matter what,” she says. Andy grins.

“That’s what I like to hear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen, i tagged it angst, i'm gonna give you angst. and more angst. and maybe some more.


	6. i am not afraid to die (i'm afraid of what comes before)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm just letting you all know now that i'm not even gonna Try to fuck around with google translate

Nicky is less than pleased when he wakes up and the wounds from the grenade blast are still healing. He’s even less pleased to find that both his wrists and ankles have been zip-tied and he’s on a plane. He’s sure this disappointment is evident on his face, because the three men in heavy armor with guns across from him look very apprehensive.

“You didn’t use enough gas,” Nicky tells them through gritted teeth, letting his head fall back against the seat. At least he was unconscious for the truck part this time. “I should’ve been out long enough to heal.”

He hears a snort from behind him and cranes his neck to see a hint of dark skin seated in the row behind him. Nile’s head pops up above the seats a moment later.

“Sit down!” someone yells, and Nile turns back for a moment.

“What are you going to do, kill me?” she snaps. She looks down for a moment to grin at Nicky, and then someone very clearly pulls her back. There are sounds of a scuffle and then a gunshot, and looking back, Nicky can see Nile on the floor. He sighs.

They’re very obviously on a smaller plane with twice as many guards as the last time around. Nicky sees no one that looks anywhere near importance, which is probably smart. It’s a pity he never learned how to fly a plane, or else he and Nile could easily kill everyone on board and just pilot back to Stuttgart themselves.

“That was kinda rude,” Nile huffs, and he hears her take a seat. He remains facing toward the guards with their guns trained on him (probably smart) and talks casually in French.

“How long has it been?” he asks.

“An hour at most,” Nile replies. Someone on her side yells at them to speak in English. They both ignore him. “I’ve been up for forty, we’ve been on the plane for thirty.”

“And did they scrape pieces of me off the ground to cart me here, or did I regrow my arms myself?” Nile actually laughs at this. The guards look apprehensive at his tone.

“I think you might’ve had to regrow them,” Nile comments. “Your head looked mostly intact, though.”

“Thank God, Joe got decapitated once and it took nearly an hour for his head to grow back.” He stares the man directly across from him dead in the eyes as Nile snorts again. More commands for them to shut up, to speak in English if they’re going to talk. He chooses several choice words from a mishmash of languages that has Nile near tears and the largest of all the men moving from the back of the plane to approach him.

“What the hell did you just say?” the man demands. Nicky stares up at him, unflinching.

“I was just commenting that you were much less efficient this time,” he says, in English. “Two grenades instead of one, and you still only captured two of us.”

That gets him a hard hit to the face with the butt of a gun. He spits out a tooth- it’s already growing back. He grins through a mouth full of blood.

“Let me guess,” Nicky says. “You’re the replacement Keane?”

“Ooh, which one?” Nile calls. Every guard that Nicky can see looks completely exasperated the moment she starts talking- he wonders how much she annoyed them in the short time he was out. That’s his girl.

“The big one with the moustache,” Nicky says, narrowing his eyes. The man raises the butt of his gun again. “Very tall. Extremely scary.” Obviously sarcasm. Nicky gets another hit, a black eye that heals in a matter of seconds.

“Sounds like it,” Nile agrees. “Tall and scary sounds Keane-esque.” Keane- who, as Nile eventually told him, had his neck snapped in an effortless move after a protective quip from Joe. Oh, this- this is going to be fun.

The two immortals spend the next hour and a half annoying the ever-loving shit out of every single man on board. Nile’s addition to the team has been a welcome one, because she brings a new generation of humor that they had no idea they were missing out on. They bet on where they’ll go after this- Nile wants Shanghai, somewhere she hasn’t been yet, and Nicky wants to show her around Argentina. Winner is whoever gets killed the most.

By the time the plane lands, Nile is above Nicky at a solid fifteen to twelve. He’s a bit disappointed, but Shanghai is very nice, too. He’s also pretty sure at least half the people around them are considering putting a bullet in their own brains, since putting a bullet in the brains of the two immortals doesn’t actually do much.

They’re transported to a large truck from the private airport they touch down at, and based on the brief glimpse of the skyline, they’re back in London. Which is brilliant, Nicky thinks, it’s like these people are just making Copley’s job of tracking them down even easier. Also brilliant is the fact that when they’re dragged from the truck to the building, Nile tells him in French that it’s the same entrance she went in when she came to rescue them.

“No cameras, so no proof of Merrick transporting people,” she adds. Nicky laughs at how easy it’ll be and gets a sharp jab to the back of the head.

In all honesty, he’s completely surprised when they’re led up to the penthouse. He figured they’d just be brought straight to whatever lab to be tested on. He doesn’t even know why they’re back here, because last time, Kozak found nothing. Physically, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about them. Unless someone’s realized that they could just be test mice for various vaccines, since they don’t die, which Nicky also hasn’t volunteered for. He gives back to humanity in other ways, thank you very much.

“Davies!” a voice that is decidedly not the original Merrick calls. “Brilliant! How many?”

“Two,” the man that they’d predicted was the replacement Keane answers. “But more will come.”

“You’re damn right more will come,” Nile says. “Guns fucking blazing.”

They’ve both got their limbs still zip-tied, guns to the back of their heads, surrounded on all sides. The man that approaches them definitely looks related to Stephen Merrick- same color hair, same passionate (albeit a bit crazed) look in his eyes. This Merrick is taller, broader, much more physically fit, and, best of all, actually has a sense of style. Thank God. Nicky thought he would’ve died from the shame of having to look at the last Merrick’s atrocious blazer-hoodie.

Behind him is Doctor Meta Kozak, looking almost exactly the same as Nicky remembers her. New Merrick starts to say something else, but Nile talks over him, this time in roughly-accented Italian.

“This the bitch?”

Nicky chuckles dryly, eyes locked on her. New Merrick stops mid-hand gesture, obviously upset at having been ignored.

“Yes,” he replies. Kozak’s got a faint smile, but she’s the first to break eye contact. Nicky turns back to New Merrick and says in English, “Sorry, New Merrick, were you saying something?”

New Merrick is red in the face. Nicky figures this is probably the best way to get himself killed, but he’d like to establish himself as the target over Nile. She’s still so young- she does not deserve to be hurt in the ways that these people are planning on hurting them. If Nicky can piss them all off enough, he’ll be the one that gets experimented on first, not Nile.

“Yes,” the man says, letting his anger fade a little. “I’m sure you already know Dr. Kozak.”

“My fist was very intimate with her face, yes,” Nile remarks. She’s making his job of protecting her very hard.

“Very well,” Nicky says, clearing his throat. “I see you have not changed your mind about any of this.” He directs this at her, and she shrugs.

“I see no reason to,” she replies. “You killed so many people in your grand escape- is there even anything human left?”

Nicky thinks that’s the stupidest thing he’s ever heard. New Merrick is nodding like it’s profound.

“And one of those people was my younger brother,” he says. “I am Darren Merrick, new CEO of Merrick Pharmaceuticals, and I will be continuing my brother’s work.”

“An extra week in Shanghai says it’s Andy’s labrys that kills this one,” Nile mutters in French.

“You’re on,” Nicky replies.

“Placing bets on my death?” New Merrick asks, also in French. Nicky rolls his eyes. Of course. “How disappointing, that you think your friends will be able to save you this time.”

Nicky grins. It’s one of those grins that he saves for the moments he’s about to go ballistic on someone for hurting Joe, wide-toothed and dangerous, a hunter locked in on his prey.

“You are lucky, I think,” he says carefully, loudly, in English so everyone can hear and understand him. His words are directed at Kozak, not Merrick, but they’re really for everyone in the room, including Nile. “That you managed to take Joe and I together last time.” His gaze switches back to New Merrick, and his grin fades into a much deadlier look. “You have not been so fortunate this time.”

The looks on all their faces- Merrick, Kozak, Davies- lets him know that he’s achieved his goal, he’s made himself the target in their minds rather than Nile, and maybe made them all a little bit afraid in the process. Think he is a mouse, indeed.

New Merrick gets so close to Nicky’s face that Nicky actually pulls back a bit.

“Mark my words,” he says. “You will never see anything other than the walls of a cell or a lab again.”

“We’ll see about that,” Nicky says, this time in Italian. No recognition of his words crosses New Merrick’s face, which pleases Nicky- so he doesn’t understand Italian, then. Perfect. He and Nile can talk in private, and they won’t be given the satisfaction of understanding Nicky when he screams.

In an all-too shocking turn of events, he and Nile are tased, sedated with some sort of paralysis drug, and then dragged down to the very same lab as last time. There are more guards stationed around the room as the two are strapped down, looking like they’re going to be stationed there at all times. So Merrick Pharma does learn from some of their mistakes. Not enough to give them any further restraints than the ones they had last time, however.

Other than the guards, the two immortals are left alone for nearly an hour before the sedative wears off and they’re able to talk to each other. Nile gets his attention in halting Italian, like she’s unsure of herself.

“No, that’s correct,” he tells her. “Very good. What is it?”

“Why did you make yourself a target?” She’s looking at him with such concern that he doesn’t have the heart to correct her conjugation.

“So you wouldn’t be,” he replies. “Easy.”

Nile gives him a strong look, and he turns away so he doesn’t have to see it.

“Just remember,” he says carefully. “That whatever happens isn’t your fault.”

They sit there in silence for nearly another hour. It’s easy to be confident about escape before you’re tied down in a lab, scalpels and jars in perfect view while waiting in anticipation for Kozak to arrive. Nicky thinks that this is almost worse than last time, when he woke up to a knife in his stomach and Kozak watching his skin attempt to heal around the blade.

Nile’s going for round three of trying to get the guards to talk to them when the door opens, Kozak and New Merrick striding inside. They’re both in lab coats and Nicky is actually apprehensive that this Merrick will also be cutting them open, but the man takes a seat at Kozak’s desk to simply observe.

“I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing your abilities in action yet,” he tells them. “Not in person, at least.”

“I hope you enjoy the show,” Nile huffs at him. Kozak is already approaching Nicky with a scalpel in hand. He’s bracing for the hit, so he just grunts softly when she stabs him quickly in the stomach and pulls the tool back out. Merrick’s eyes widen as the wound heals almost instantly.

“Incredible,” he says, almost breathless. “And you’re certain there are no properties about their DNA to make this possible?”

“None,” Kozak says. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t stop trying.” She gives Nicky a look, and he swears she’s gotten more sadistic in the past ten and a half months. He recognizes the look well, he’s seen it on too many men before her. She wants to make him hurt, for comments he made to her or Merrick, or for his escape, or simply for existing. This Merrick will likely let her have her wish.

“Do your worst,” Nicky tells her. He remembers her comment from earlier, if he’s even human with the things he’s done, and he says, “God will not have mercy on either of our souls.”

“Maybe not,” New Merrick pipes up. “But it’s worth it for the reward here, isn’t it?”

Kozak leans in close, a small smile playing on her lips. Nicky stares her down.

“Oh, Nicky,” she says, and Nile snarls and thrashes against her restraints next to them. Nicky feels the blade entering his stomach again and staying there. “Your Joe isn’t here to protect you this time.”

All for the better, Nicky thinks, but that doesn’t stop him from screaming for him as Kozak begins.


	7. hold onto your anger, you will need all of it now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title adapted from a quote from madeleine l'engle's 'a wrinkle in time'

Quynh can’t recall a time where she’s ever seen Joe this upset.

Then again, she’s never seen Joe forcibly separated from Nicky. Andy mutters to her that it’s a rare occurrence, but it happens- one of them is taken by some mafia boss or drug lord or bad guy that’s just a dandelion seed in the wind compared to them, and the other goes ballistic until the inevitable rescue. Booker tells her the shortened version- “You think seeing them together is scary? Try seeing them apart.” 

Quynh has to admit that he’s right. She’s always been impressed with how the two of them fight seamlessly, like her and Andy. But she and Andy had hundreds of years to perfect their dual-style of fighting, whereas Nicky and Joe have been doing it since the beginning. Seeing Joe without Nicky- well, the second group of attackers that comes for them just as they’re about to leave doesn’t stand a goddamn chance. When it’s over, Joe is panting and covered in blood.

“I think I’m going to take a shower before we go,” he says tersely, and they all pretend not to notice the distinct sound of his fist hitting the wall.

They leave twenty minutes later, bags slung over their shoulders as they walk into town to rent a new car, just in case. Quynh’s the one that tosses the match into the trail of gasoline. Another day, another safehouse. She almost feels satisfied as she watches it burn down, thinking maybe it’ll burn away the sting of betrayal (at herself, not at them, never at them) she feels for having let Nicky and Nile go just like that.

Booker’s the one that goes to get them the rental car, and the others go to the gas station next door to hunt for medical supplies and food. Of course, none of them have enough euro on them- Joe’s got a mash of currency from China, the United States, Morocco, and one of what looks like a severely outdated Egyptian coin. Andy’s got the most euro on her, but not enough, along with at least seven other types of currency. Quynh runs to grab Booker’s wallet and returns with barely enough to pay for the medical supplies and junk food that they’re buying.

“And a pack of smokes,” Quynh says last minute, shoving their money toward the poor cashier in an unceremonious pile. Booker let her try a cigarette once, when she insisted that she’d never smoked tobacco before. She hated it, but she figures it’s a good stress reliever instead of punching walls like Joe or internalizing her emotions like Andy and Booker. It’s not like the nicotine will kill her, anyways.

Booker just raises an eyebrow when she hands him his wallet as she slides into the passenger seat. He’s already driving, which leaves Andy to complain as she gets into the back and Joe to stare pensively out the window, no doubt planning countless murders in his head.

Ten minutes into the drive- they’re heading north, avoiding main roads, not really knowing where they’re going other than that they’ll end up in London eventually- Joe clears his throat. “Booker, if I did not care for you so much, I would have found the nearest bar and drunk enough to die from liver failure, come back, and do it again.”

Booker and Quynh exchange a look. Andy tries and fails to muffle a snicker.

“I’m… honored?” Booker says, and the way it sounds too much like a question shows that none of them can even pretend to understand Joe. Joe, for his part, just continues staring out the window like the landscape has personally affronted him.

“Joe,” Andy says after a moment. “Being angry isn’t going to help anyone. You’re gonna snap at us and then we’ll all be mad at each other and distracted from the actual goal.”

“Which is what?” Joe asks. “We have no plan. We can’t storm the place or they’ll mow us down and take us while we’re out. Last time it was only thanks to Nile that we got out of there alive, if it weren’t for her, we were fucked and you all know it.”

“Which is why Nile insisted that Quynh hide,” Andy retorts. Quynh freezes, and realizes that she’s right. If Nile was their secret weapon last time, Quynh is their secret weapon this time. Merrick Pharma doesn’t know about Quynh. Which means…

“No,” Quynh says. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s the only way,” Andy says.

“A repeat of the last escape isn’t going to work, they’re not gonna fall for it,” Booker says quietly. “We can use that as the base of a plan, yeah, but we can’t send Quynh in alone with five of us contained. Especially if they get their hands on you, Andy, they’ll use you as a bargaining chip.”

“Fine,” Andy says. “We get in touch with Copley, we find out where they are, and-”

“If any of us are being sent in, it’s me,” Joe says suddenly.

“Absolutely not,” Andy growls.

“It has to be.” Quynh turns back in her seat and sees that Joe’s finally pulled away from the window and is now glaring at Andy. Booker glances into the rear-view mirror and huffs slightly.

“No,” Andy says again. “We all care about the people in there, but you more than anyone. If you infiltrate you’re going to be so completely focused on getting yourself to Nicky that you won’t be thinking about getting yourselves out once you’re together.”

“Andy-” Joe starts.

“She’s right,” Quynh says. “Joe, you’re more volatile than I’ve ever seen you. You’re too angry, about being split up from him.”

Joe turns his glare on her, enraged. Quynh is only reassured by the fact that she knows she could take him in a fight.

“I can go in,” Booker says quietly. He’s got a death grip on the steering wheel and both eyes locked on the road. “It’ll be believable, if I show up and offer myself up. They probably still think I want to find a way to die.”

“Don’t you?” Joe snorts, and it’s a little harsh, but Booker doesn’t flinch. Quynh almost does, but she knows that none of them are really thinking straight right now.

“Not as much,” Booker says softly. “Look- we get tech from Copley, I offer myself up and go in with a bug or two, I can let you know what’s going on inside.”

A solid plan, to Quynh, other than the fact that she doesn’t know why Booker would bring bugs in with him. Bugs can’t communicate with people. Or can they? She hasn’t bothered to study up on her entomology in the past few months. Had insects evolved that much?

“Quynh,” Booker says softly, and she startles and glances over. She hadn’t even realized she’d been zoning out. “What is it?”

“Bugs?” she asks weakly. There’s a moment of silence, and then Andy snorts. Booker sighs. Joe looks the closest to happy she’s seen him since Nicky and Nile were taken. Not quite smiling, but almost.

“Technical term,” Booker says. “Little microphones so that they can hear what’s going on around me.” Quynh nods- that makes a lot more sense. She vocalizes as much, and Andy lets out a little chuckle. Quynh allows herself one moment of ‘gay panic’ (she learned the term from Nile a few days ago and doesn’t know exactly what it means, but she figures the little skip of her heart when Andy does the little chuckle thing is pretty close to it).

“Okay,” Quynh says. “We send in Booker, with these technical insects. He tells us what the inside is like. Then what?”

“We storm the place,” Joe mutters, evidently knowing that the idea would be shot down immediately.

“We’ll figure out the rest when we talk to Copley,” Andy promises. “For now, Joe- if you don’t sleep, I’ll knock you out myself.”

Quynh takes note of her own exhaustion. Dying and coming back to life is never fun (she would know), but it usually takes a lot out of a person. When she finally escaped the iron coffin, she thinks she slept for a week straight (she’s not exactly sure, because she didn’t know the day when she emerged from the sea and she didn’t bother to figure out the one when she emerged from her safehouse for at least a few days). She remembers a time when she, Andy, and Lykon had fought in a raging battle, died thrice each in increasingly horrifying ways, and slept for a full day while their bodies tried to recover from the exhaustion of, well, recovering.

“If I consume a lot of calories it’ll have the same effect,” Joe mutters, but Andy raises her labrys slowly and he waves her off as he shoves his face back against the window. Andy leans back, too, offering a small smile at Quynh, and she turns back to Booker.

“I’m not letting you drive,” Booker says immediately, and she puts on a fake pout. He tried teaching her, once or twice, and it went about as well as she’d expected. Horribly. She killed two trees and a car. “I’ll be fine, Quynh. Get some sleep.”

She nods. She can already feel her eyes drifting closed. She gives a senseless gesture that Booker seems to understand anyways, and he opens the windows in the front to let in some fresh air. Quynh takes a few deep breaths in and out- it’s always nice to reassure herself that yes, this is air- and before she knows it, she’s asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't smoke kids, the aesthetic may be sexy but lung cancer is not


	8. the trouble is, you think you have time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is a quote from jack kornfield

Nile wakes up to the soft sounds of Nicky choking on his own blood.

She stays still, takes stock of the situation first, like she was trained to do. She’s no longer restrained, which is nice. They’re definitely not in the lab anymore- the lighting is dim, and she’s on the ground. It doesn’t seem like anyone else is in the small room with them. 

She sits up just as Nicky manages to pull what appears to be a large metal rod out of his stomach only to die again. She waits five, ten, fifteen seconds before she sees him violently come to and turn himself onto his side to cough most of the blood out of his mouth.

“You good?” Nile asks, and she’s surprised by how hoarse her voice is. She has no idea how long it’s been since she passed out.

“Fine,” Nicky mutters. “Took me eighteen deaths to get that thing out.” He casts a glare at the discarded rod, covered in blood. Nile winces. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” she replies. She checks herself over- not for injuries, but for dried blood indicating past injuries. Finding nothing, she shrugs. “Do you know how long it’s been?”

“I passed out some time after the third open-heart surgery,” Nicky remarks dryly, and Nile nods in remembrance. Kozak kept finding things to hold his chest open with so she could see if removing his heart would cause it to grow back by itself. Nile thinks she passed out around the second time it happened. “They haven’t hurt you?”

“Not that I know of,” Nile says. She stands up and stretches, and lets out a little noise of satisfaction when her back cracks. The room is definitely small, definitely a holding cell of some kind. She can’t see a door, but they’re not restrained and they have that metal rod they can use as a weapon, so things could certainly be worse. There’s also a camera in one corner, red light blinking. She flips it off and turns back to Nicky to help him up.

“I don’t like this,” he mutters. “Something’s going to happen soon.”

“Well, we’ve got this,” Nile says, picking up the metal rod. It’s still covered in wet blood. She grimaces, then stops; she really should be used to it by now. Nicky chuckles at the look on her face.

There’s another couple of hours before anything interesting happens. By this point, they’ve tested every inch of the room to search for a way out and had no luck. Nile eventually gets sick of the blinking red light of the camera and she grabs the rod from Nicky’s hand to bat it down. It shatters on the floor very satisfyingly, and she gestures for Nicky to boost her up so she can get a look at the wires. Just as he’s about to, one panel of the wall across from them slides open. Nile raises the rod; Nicky grabs a shard of glass from the camera.

“There’s no need for violence,” Darren Merrick says. There’s at least six guns on them before they can see him enter, and he waits until they’ve had their makeshift weapons confiscated and are restrained before he approaches. “We’re just here to collect you for transportation.”

“Transportation?” Nile says, and she can see Nicky struggling to hold back the panic from behind his eyes. If they’re moved somewhere else, it’ll be harder for the others to find them. God knows Joe’s probably already going crazy- if he shows up here and they’re gone, he’ll lose it completely.

“Hide us all you want,” Nicky says, putting on a brave face. The momentary panic is gone, which she thinks is good, because her panic is about to set in. “We will be found either way.”

“All the better,” New Merrick says. “Makes my job easier. Hopefully you’ll lure them right to us.” He shifts slightly and they can see Kozak behind him, watching them. “Which one of them do you want?”

“Him,” Kozak replies instantly. “You can use her as the bait.”

“What?” Nicky snarls.

“No,” Nile starts. “No, don’t-”

There’s chaos for a minute as Nicky and Nile start to be dragged in opposite directions and immediately fight to get back to each other. He manages to flip one guard over his shoulder just as Nile snaps another’s neck, and then New Merrick and Kozak are yelling as Davies storms into the room and manages to get Nile in a headlock and put a pistol to her head.

Nicky stops for a barely a moment, just hesitating, but it’s enough for six more guards to tackle him to the ground. Nile stomps on Davies’s foot, and then she hears the shot and everything goes dark.

She wakes up to guards yelling over each other and Nicky yelling at her to stay strong as he’s dragged out of the room, and then there’s another bullet in her head.

This time the room is empty when she wakes up. There are two bullet shells on the ground next to her, having been pushed out of her head. Gas fills the room and she dies again.

And again.

And again.

When she wakes up and isn’t immediately dying, she’s in a straitjacket. Which is more annoying than anything else, really. Her ankles are also tied and she’s got a gag in her mouth, sitting in the back of a truck with three guns to her head as she’s taken who-knows-where. Nicky and Kozak are nowhere in sight, but if she turns her head she can see that Davies is one of the men with a gun to her head.

“Don’t get any ideas,” he mutters. She tries and fails to say something through the gag, then settles for rolling her eyes at him. There’s four hours of her testing her restraints and Davies muttering into a little radio before the truck comes to a stop, and she’s shot through the head without mercy.

She wakes up three times as they’re carting her inside, and the second she shows signs of being awake, Davies shoots her again. The fourth time she wakes up, she’s sitting in a little holding cell, still in the straitjacket, though the gag is gone. Davies and a few others are waiting outside the cell door.

“Where’s Nicky?” she asks immediately.

“Like we’d tell you,” Davies snorts.

“Where are we?” she tries.

“Like we’d tell you,” Davies repeats, more forcefully. He looks up at her. “Look, kid, I don’t have anything against you. But a job is a job.”

“Oh, so you’re not a sadist like the last one,” Nile snorts. “Awesome. Makes me feel so much better.”

“Liverpool,” he says after a moment. She looks up; he’s not looking at her. “We’re in Liverpool. Your friends will walk into a trap.” With that, Davies leaves, another guard slipping into the room to take his place.

Nicky wakes up on a plane.

It’s even smaller than the one they took to London, barely room for him and Kozak and the fifteen guards they’ve stuffed on board. Smart choice.

Snapshots begin rushing back to him- Nile on the ground, blood leaking from her forehead, guards shoving him into the hallway, Kozak sticking something in his neck, darkness. A hallway. A car. Now a plane. A whole little adventure. He knows better than to ask where he’s being taken, where Nile is, how they possibly expect the rest of the Guard to fall for a trap as obvious as whatever it is they’re planning. Maybe they don’t realize it’s obvious, but the Guard has been around for a long, long time, and mortals are predictable.

That predictability will save him. It’s all too easy for Booker to track offshore accounts and supposedly-abandoned warehouses and eventually everything will come back to Merrick’s name, even if it takes a while to get there. But now they’ve Copley at their every whim and Quynh as their secret weapon and a very, very angry Joe. Nicky will be out of this within the week. Maybe the month, if New Merrick is smarter than the old one.

“You’re awake,” Kozak notices, raising an eyebrow at him. He doesn’t change his expression, which he’s sure is mildly annoyed. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve died a few times,” he replies. “I’m sure you would know nothing about that.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the feeling,” she says, quirking her lips up. She thinks they’re joking together. How cute.

“You will,” he says softly, and now it’s his turn to smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof this took a while but with school starting i'm going to try and update every sunday/monday and i will hold myself to that schedule if it kills me


	9. do you cry for them, or just for your soul?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shorter chapter because monkey brain says hyperfixate on other things

Nile isn’t sure how many days have passed. No more straitjacket, thankfully. She hasn’t been sleeping, wanting to stay on her guard. They’ve given her water, but they haven’t fed her. She’s both the bait and their test, to see if she dies of starvation like any mortal would. She’s pretty sure she will.

It’s going on the fourth or fifth time she’s passed out from exhaustion when something interesting happens. She hasn’t seen Davies since he told her they were in Liverpool, only a rotation of a dozen or so different guards. Now, however, Davies is back, going straight up to her cell. He’s got a handgun on her, and he just looks bored.

“Stand back,” he orders, and she does, watching him warily. He gestures to someone off to the side, and then he’s unlocking the door. Nile watches as two guards come forward with a slouching figure held up between them, three more with guns raised. The figure has a bag over their head and is thrown to the ground mercilessly. One of the guards rips off the bag, and Nile gasps as she sees Booker.

He’s got dried blood all over his face, but it’s definitely him, and he rolls over and starts coughing as soon as the cell door slams shut. Davies leaves with most of the other guards, and Nile dives forward, grabbing Booker’s shoulders.

“Book,” she says. “Hey, Book, look at me, you’re okay.”

“I’m good,” he says, waving her off. “I’m good. Where’s Nicky?”

“I don’t know,” Nile replies, swallowing harshly. “They split us up, said I was gonna be the bait. How’d you get here?”

“Went to London. Turned myself over,” Booker answers. He gives her a strong look that she understands immediately- he’s here as part of a rescue. “They put a bag over my head and brought me here.”

“We’re in Liverpool,” she says, a bit louder. She drops her voice and mutters in Italian, “No cameras.” Booker nods and turns his back to the guards. He opens his jacket a bit and taps the inside- it’s bugged. Nile grins, raises her voice, switches back to English. “Good to see you, Book. Glad you didn’t turn the rest of us in with you.”

“Yeah, well, you know how they are,” he says. “They’ll come for you and die anyways.” He winks at her, actually winks, and she stifles a laugh as she glances to the guards.

“Good thing our deaths aren’t permanent,” she quips, and Booker smirks. “Is everyone else okay?”

“Joe’s pissed beyond belief. Andy’s trying to keep his head on straight.” No mention of Quynh, which means New Merrick probably doesn’t know about her yet. “You see the new guy?”

“Darren Merrick,” Nile nods. “Nicky and I have been calling him New Merrick.”

Booker laughs. “How long since they split you up?”

“Maybe a week and a half? Haven’t been keeping track. How long since we’ve been gone?”

“Three weeks.”

“Shit. And Joe hasn’t burned the place down yet?”

Booker shakes his head, his eyes sad. “They’ll come for you first, kid.” Nile’s unspoken ‘why?’ is answered immediately. “They know Nicky can take it.”

She’s quiet for a moment, thinking. She talks in Italian because she doesn’t think any of the guards know the language, lowering her voice again.

“If you get taken to him, they’ll find you there,” she mutters. “Then we’ll know where he is, even if they come for me first.” Based on the look on his face, she messed something up in translation, but he got the message. The guards are looking a bit suspicious now, so she switches back to English. “Did you see the replacement Keane?”

“Davies? Big guy?” Booker asks, and Nile nods, and they start talking about meaningless things that won’t give the guards any information.

Two hours later, as they’re both sitting pressed against the back of the cell, Nile feels Booker slip something into her hand. A ring. She remembers from last time that Joe had still had his rings on him, or at least near him, and she slips it on. There’s a pretty black stone in the center, and when Nile glances at Booker, he grins. Another bug.

Nile grins back.

Merrick Pharma doesn’t know what’s coming.

Joe presses the headphones to his ears tightly as he hears men shove Booker out of whatever car they’ve stuffed him in. The tracker is gone, having been found when he first arrived at the London skyscraper, but they didn’t find the bug laced inside his jacket. Andy is pacing back and forth, Quynh is watching Joe carefully for any change in facial expression. Copley is standing back, typing rapidly as he tries to narrow down Booker’s location based on how long he was being driven. The Guard is currently in a safehouse in Wales, waiting for any sign that Booker is with the others. Then Joe hears Nile’s voice through the headphones and sighs with relief, gesturing for Quynh to sit down when she jumps up.

He listens long enough to learn that Nicky isn’t there but that Nile and Booker are in Liverpool before he throws the headphones down. Andy is there immediately, shoving them on her own ears and listening intently. Quynh stands up to grab her hand, rubbing circles on the back soothingly. They didn’t think Andy had any nervous habits, but now she’s almost chewed her nails to a pulp.

“Liverpool,” Joe says, moving to stand behind Copley. “They’re in Liverpool.”

“All of them?” Copley asks, fingers slamming against the keyboard.

“Just Book and Nile,” Andy reports. “From the sounds of it, they’re using Nile as bait. They’ll probably move Booker to wherever Nicky is.” She hands the headphones to Quynh, who slips them on without a word, and approaches Joe. “Joe.”

“It’s fine,” Joe says. He can feel his nails digging into his palm, knows that it’s anything but fine. “What else did they say?”

“That we’d go for Nile first,” Andy says, swallowing hard. Joe can see tears swimming in her eyes, which is normally enough to strike fear in his heart, but now he’s just too angry to feel anything else. “That we know Nicky can take it.”

Joe mutters several choice swear words ending in “He shouldn’t _have_ to take it!” Andy grips his upper arm and pulls him into a hug, and he buries his face in her shoulder.

“It’ll be okay, Joe,” she says. “It’ll be okay.” Joe desperately, desperately hopes she’s right.

“I’ve got it,” Copley says loudly. “An old warehouse-turned-lab in Liverpool. It was supposed to be torn down, but it was bought and refurbished by Merrick Pharmaceuticals in 2019.” He scribbles something on a piece of paper and hands it to Andy. She gives it a haphazard glance before gesturing to Quynh, who slips the headphones off.

“They’re just telling stories,” Quynh says. “Did you get it?”

“We’ve got ‘em,” Andy says with a grin. “Copley, listen in for us?”

“Of course,” he says with a nod, and Quynh tosses Andy her labrys with a smile.


	10. i would rather walk with a friend in the dark than alone in the light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is a quote from helen keller

Nicky finally emerges from the daze of unconsciousness when Booker is thrown down next to him.

“Book?” he asks, squinting. Everything is still a little blurry- his brain hasn’t quite registered that his body is alright. He lifts one hand to his eyes, rubbing at them, and when he pulls his hand away it’s covered in specks of already-dried blood. He’s got a pounding headache that he really wishes would go away.

“Yeah, hey, Nicky,” the tired reply comes. The world stops dancing and Nicky focuses in. Booker is leaning up against the opposite wall, looking like he wants nothing more than a drink. Nicky pulls himself up, glances down- he’s covered in dried blood, which is, frankly, disgusting. He also has no idea how long it’s been since he was separated from Nile, only that he was switching between dead, unconscious, and pure pain for most of it.

“How’s it going?” he asks. Booker, thankfully, doesn’t have any remnants of being hurt, but does have impressive bags under his eyes. “You look like shit.”

“You look worse,” Booker snorts. “What’d she do to you?”

“Wish I could tell you,” Nicky shrugs. “Or perhaps I don’t. Nile?”

“She’s fine,” Booker says. “They kept me with her for a few days before shipping me out here. She’s somewhere in Liverpool, they’re using her as the bait.”

“As we thought,” Nicky says with a nod. He lays back down, mostly so he doesn’t have to stare out the walls of the makeshift cell they’ve been stuffed in. “How long has it been?”

“Four weeks?” Booker offers. “I was here for at least a few days before I saw you. They tried interrogating me to see if my intentions were true.” He snorts, and Nicky turns his head.

“What do you mean?” he asks. Booker smirks.

“I told them I was turning myself in,” he says quietly in some other language Nicky couldn’t be bothered to identify. “And I got bugs in both locations.” He gives Nicky a shit-eating grin, and Nicky laughs so hard his chest starts to hurt. He coughs and takes a couple of deep breaths, waving off Booker’s sudden concerned look.

“How long before you told them?” Nicky asks, English again. They made the mistake of believing Booker, and they can be forced to understand the two immortals shit-talking them over it.

“Oh, immediately,” Booker replies. “Second they tied me down, told ‘em I was playing ‘em. They didn’t like that very much.”

“I would imagine.”

They sit in silence for a few more moments.

“Andy?” Quynh’s name is unspoken, but implied with the strong glance he gives.

“Fine. Planning. You know how it goes.”

He does. Andy and Quynh, the two of them against the world. They’ll tear down the world to find their family.

“Joe?”

He knows his love. He knows how Joe is faring. He asks anyways.

“Last I saw him, alternating between losing it and shutting himself down completely.” Ah. Just as he thought. He turns his head to look back at the ceiling. “What about you, Nicky?”

“Oh, I believe our good Doctor Kozak has turned into a sadist in these past months,” Nicky snorts. “I think she’s testing her limits before she uses me as a human test subject.”

“Her limits?” Booker asks. “Not your limits?”

“I know my limits,” Nicky says. “She’s testing to see how far she’s willing to go.”

“And how far is that?” Booker asks. Nicky glances over and sees the anger in his eyes, knows this is to see how slowly Booker will kill Kozak. Nicky almost laughs. Almost.

“Have you ever been decapitated?” he asks. He doesn’t think Booker has, but he can’t be sure. “It’s a painfully long process. I think I’ve had to regrow my head twice now.” He swallows harshly. “I don’t remember exactly what she did. Just pain.” 

Booker stands up. Nicky closes his eyes, doesn’t see, only hears Booker’s fist slam into the wall, the bars of the cell. Oh, yeah. Kozak’s death will be slow and painful, no matter whose hands she dies at. Nicky wonders if she deserves it. She said it herself- she wants to change the world. Does she deserve the death that’s coming for her?

He remembers Joe’s face as she took samples of their organs and thinks yes, she does. Joe has always said that Nicky is the kind one, but it’s times like these that makes Nicky doubt that.

“We’re gonna be fine,” Booker says, sitting back down with a huff. “The replacement Keane brought me, which means he’s not with Nile.”

“They’ll have her out soon, then,” Nicky nods. “And that’s all we need.” He can take it. Booker can take it. Repeat it again and again.

Booker watches Nicky carefully as he closes his eyes, still flat on his back. He’s wearing new clothes, but they’re caked in blood. He looks like he hasn’t actually slept in weeks, which he probably hasn’t. His mental state is, honestly, questionable. Booker is all too used to repressing his emotions until they overwhelm him.

Nicky falls asleep after that, which Booker is almost grateful for. He’s not awake when New Merrick and Davies and Kozak all come strolling up to the bars of their cell in the laboratory in the middle of God-knows-where (or maybe He doesn’t. If Copley can’t figure it out, what’s to say any god could?). All three of them stand there, waiting, watching to see what Booker will do. He stands, slowly, and Davies pulls out a handgun, though he keeps it down. Booker doesn’t charge, he just steps in front of Nicky and crosses his arms.

“What now?” he asks. “Here to stare? We’re not animals.”

“The carnage you cause speaks otherwise,” New Merrick says. Booker’s encountered him once, when he was dragged away from Nile and stuck on a plane to wherever here is. His voice is deeper than his brother’s, his stance more confident. Booker hates him for multiple reasons, but the biggest is probably the fact that he’s looking in on two men that have lived more lifetimes than he could dream and still acts like he’s the bigger man.

“We hunt monsters, Mr. Merrick,” Booker says. “We’ll hunt you too. What do you want?”

“A Nobel Prize, a million pounds, human test subjects I can reuse again and again,” New Merrick lists. “Ah, wait. I’ve got two of those, haven’t I? Kozak?”

“The Nobel Prize is close,” she says with a smug smile. Booker laughs, harsh and dry.

“Bullshit,” he says. “You went through this last time. There’s nothing irregular about us. We just are. If you want to keep torturing us, that’s fine.” He glances back at Nicky’s unconscious form. “But I can tell you, whatever you did to him, Joe’ll do to you. A hundred times over if he could. But you only live once, so I guess he’ll have to settle for that.” He’s creeping closer to the bars, now. Kozak takes a step back. Davies raises the gun. Merrick stares him down.

“I guess he will,” New Merrick says after a moment. “Doctor, you have video footage of your experimentation?”

“Not all of it,” she says slyly. “But enough.”

“Good. We have James Copley’s information saved somewhere. See if you can get it to him. I’m sure he’ll pass along a message.” New Merrick grins as Booker as Kozak stalks off. Davies clears his throat. “Prep to move them to the second Liverpool location, they’re coming for the girl and they won’t be anticipating it.” Davies gives a sharp nod and the two leave without a second glance at Booker. As soon as they’re out of earshot, Booker lets out a laugh.

He’s got his jacket on, the bug still laced inside.

“Hear that?” he mutters, just loud enough for the bug to pick it up. “We’ll meet you in Liverpool.”

Mortals always think they know better. Too bad for them, the Old Guard has seen it all.

Nile cracks her neck and wipes her hands on her shirt. The guard that got too close to her door is now on the ground, and Nile’s got bits of skin and blood under her fingernails from where she pulled him close enough to get the leverage to snap his neck. Not her best kill, but it’ll do. It’s enough to get the attention of the other guards that have been hanging around.

Her goal is to draw Davies to her, to see if he’s still here, because she hasn’t seen any sign of him or New Merrick since they took Booker. She keeps muttering to the ring on her finger, letting the team know that now’s as good a time as any to come and pick her up. She doesn’t know if they’re just constantly listening or what, but she’s sure they’ll figure it out eventually.

Eventually being now, because she clocks six guards running at her, but none of them are making the screams of pain she hears coming from farther away. She leans against the bars of the cell, grinning at the six in front of her. They stare for a moment, unsure of what to do, and then one of them cries out and all of them swivel on whatever figure is oncoming. Which, of course, leaves them completely open to the attack that comes from the other direction.

Joe and Quynh come at her from either side, every guard down. The ground is covered in blood, and Nile’s grin widens. They’re both covered head-to-toe in mission gear, Quynh completely unrecognizable, even though Nile’s sure that Copley has cut all the camera feeds by now.

“Hey, guys!” she says brightly. “How’s it going?”

“Fucking kids,” Joe mutters, picking a set of bloodstained keys off the ground and unlocking her cell. She dives into his arms and he gives a little huff of surprise, barely having the time to hug her back before she wraps Quynh up.

“Sorry it took so long,” Quynh says quietly, and Nile pulls back.

“None of that,” she says sternly. Quynh’s got still-wet blood on her forehead, and Joe has a large gash in his shirt, but other than that it doesn’t look like they’ve died much, that she can tell at least. They wear black for a reason, she’s found. “Where’s Andy?”

“I believe she is teaching some of the guards a lesson in manners,” Quynh says conspiratorially. Joe snickers, but there’s no joy behind it. Nile wonders how he’s holding up, and then she thinks that she isn’t sure if she wants to see Joe without Nicky.

Yeah, she does. He’s family, through good or bad. She’ll take any side, because she’s back with them now. Or rather, most of them.

They’ve got another rescue to plan.


	11. today it is but a rivulet- tomorrow it will be a flood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> filler chapter because school is kicking my ASS sorry guys

Nile’s certain that she’s just slept for a good two days straight. For a moment, when she wakes up, she isn’t certain if she’s really free or still in captivity, due to the hard ground beneath her and the dust under her fingernails. But as she blinks her eyes open, she sees Andy’s coat draped over her and Quynh tending to a fire nearby. They’re in a large cave, and Nile sinks back down.

“Good to see you awake,” Quynh says, smiling brightly. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better,” Nile replies. “Do we have any food?”

“Andy and Joe are on a grocery run now. They should be back soon.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Two days,” Quynh answers with a sympathetic smile. Score. Nile was right.

“Have we made any progress on Nicky and Booker?” She doesn’t want to get hopeful, but she’s already there. She shivers and pulls Andy’s coat around her shoulders. Quynh smiles softly.

“Copley overheard someone say they were taking them back to Liverpool. A different location,” Quynh says. “We aren’t sure where yet. We were hoping you might be able to help.”

“I don’t have much,” Nile says reluctantly.

“Anything is enough,” comes Joe’s voice from behind her. She turns to see him and Andy entering, each carrying a few bags of food and medical supplies. “Good to see you awake, Nile.”

“Good to be awake,” she replies. “Thank you guys. For coming after me.”

“Always,” Andy says, squeezing her shoulder before sitting down next to Quynh. Quynh wraps both arms around her, and Andy sinks into the embrace. “Always and forever.”

“So,” Joe says, sitting next to her and passing her another blanket from somewhere. She accepts it gratefully. “What do you know?”

“First, where the hell are we?” Nile asks.

“Somewhere in Norway,” Andy answers. “A stronghold I locked down in the… God, 800 BC? Time loses meaning. We figured they wouldn’t look for us this far out.”

“I’ve never been to Norway,” Nile comments. “The company’s being run by Merrick’s older brother. We started to call him New Merrick. Kozak’s still there, she’s got a bone to pick with Nicky. The replacement Keane is a guy called Davies, he was a bit nicer, he’s the one that gave away that we were in Liverpool.”

“I’m going to commit serial murder,” Joe mutters under his breath. Quynh chuckles, and Andy snorts.

“You’re picking up on my humor,” Nile says, elbowing him. “Hey, yeah, would you guys technically be considered serial killers?”

“Not important,” Andy says dismissively. Something chimes in her pocket, and she pulls out a burner phone. “Copley. He’s got something. A message from them. He’s at a place in Madrid.”

“We split up that much?” Nile mutters incredulously, already getting up. Andy sends a message back to Copley and then crunches the phone under her boot harshly.

“Let’s go,” she says tersely.


	12. and make death proud to take us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me at the end of august: i'm not gonna let school/mental illness/insert excuse here get in the way of updating this  
> also me: *lets all of those things do exactly that*  
> chapter title/quote in the chapter from 'antony and cleopatra' by william shakespeare

“I’m going to burn this place down to the ground,” Booker snarls, pacing back and forth. Nicky’s just been tossed back into the cell, covered in blood. Nicky smiles grimly, wincing as he climbs to his feet. Booker has half a mind to shove him back down, but decides against it as the other man limps up to join him at the bars to the cell. He glances back and forth, gaze settling on Booker.

“They just wanted some last samples before we’re moved,” Nicky huffs, peeling away his bloodied shirt. There’s no wound at his side, no scar. There never is.

“So why don’t they take me, huh? Have a stab at me for once.” He frowns. “Pun not intended.” It makes Nicky chuckle regardless.

“You’re an alcoholic, Booker. You’re contaminated,” he replies teasingly. Booker rolls his eyes and resumes his pacing. He can hear Nicky thinking, but he doesn’t say anything, doesn’t want to press. In the past day or two, he’s been carefully considering both of their mental states, and he’s determined that neither of them are good. Shocker.

“I want to say that I don’t understand why they’re doing this,” Nicky mutters after a moment. “They’ve taken so many organs and samples from me that they’re bound to have duplicates. But maybe that’s the point. Our organs are healthy. With us, they have an unlimited supply of donors. They could save humanity. Test on us for eternity.”

Booker pauses his pacing and waits for him to continue. His gaze is locked on one spot in the hallway, head resting on the bars of the cell.

“I almost want them to,” Nicky says after a moment. “We’ve been fighting for so long. Why not give someone else a chance to use our gifts to help?”

“You can’t think like that, bud,” Booker says, moving to stand next to him.

“Is it selfish to keep this to ourselves? We have so much to give-”

“And we do give. We give a lot, Nicky. But in the end we’re still human, and we still feel and love and deserve to live.”

Nicky turns to him and scoffs. “When did you become such a poet, Book?”

“I take my lessons from Joe,” Booker scoffs, and Nicky’s gaze darkens.

“And that’s why we will not let them hurt us,” Nicky says. “Because I will not let them touch Joe. Or Nile, or Andy. Ever again.” ‘Or Quynh’ is left unsaid, but Booker knows it’s there. They will protect their family, even if it kills them.

And it won’t kill them.

Copley smiles warmly when he sees Nile enter the Madrid hotel room behind Joe, and she surprises him completely by embracing him in a hug. He pats her back and tells her that he’s glad she’s okay, and she offers him a strong smile in response.

“What do you have, Copley?” Andy asks, sounding far more tired than she did while screaming at Joe over cards on the flight over. She’s got Quynh wrapped in her embrace, though Nile thinks she might just be leaning on the other woman for support.

“Well, you’re not going to like it,” Copley says. “From an encrypted number. I lost the signal somewhere around Moscow. Video footage.”

“Video footage?” Joe asks, eyes widening. Copley swallows harshly. The women all seem to understand immediately.

“Joe, it might not be the best idea-” Andy starts.

“Show me,” Joe says.

“Joe-”

“Show me,” Joe repeats, his voice dangerously low. Andy shifts her weight back to her own feet, muttering to him in harsh tones, a language that Nile doesn’t recognize. They’re clearly arguing, so she gravitates with Quynh toward Copley and his computer set-up.

“Have you watched it?” Quynh asks. Copley nods. “How bad is it?”

“I mean-” he starts, then stops. “It’s documentation. Of her… experiments. For scientific research purposes, or something, and they sent me the files. I don’t know why.”

“To antagonize us?” Nile suggests. “Dumb fucking move on their part, honestly. Antagonizing us will just make us more likely to go apeshit on them.”

Quynh’s eyes brighten as if she’s got an idea.

“Andromache,” she says, loud enough to be heard over Andy and Joe’s raised voices. Andy stops immediately, turning to them. “Let him watch the video.”

“Thank you-” Joe snarls.

“No-” Andy starts at the same time.

“Yes,” Quynh says insistently, fire burning in her eyes. “It will be painful, but it is necessary.”

And it clicks in Nile’s head, just like that. It will enrage them. It will make them hurt. It will make them more prepared than anything to do whatever it takes to get their family back.

They’re on a plane and all Nicky can feel is pain.

He knows that Booker is next to him, strapped down similarly, unable to move or even wriggle. Nicky’s been in and out of a drug-fueled haze, sometimes coherent enough to mumble encouraging words to Booker and spitting insults at the guards, sometimes passed out completely. He doesn’t think he’s ever felt pain like this and he doesn’t even know what it is that they’re doing to him. He knows he’s crying out for Joe, Yusuf, his Yusuf, he can see it on all their faces, but he can’t bring himself to care.

It’s in one of his coherent moments, one of Booker’s half-coherent moments, that he hears it. “I wish we would just fucking die already,” Booker hisses out.

“Not yet,” Nicky replies, gasping through the unbearable pain. “Death’s not coming for us yet.”

“I wish it would-” Booker starts, cutting himself off.

“‘Our lamp is spent, it’s out,’” Nicky huffs out. “‘Good sirs, take heart. We’ll bury him, and then, what’s brave, what’s noble, Let’s do ‘t after the high Roman fashion, and make death proud to take us.’” He wasn’t always the biggest fan of Shakespeare, he much preferred the comedies, but right now it’s what comes to mind.

“Death had better be fucking proud when it gets its hands on us,” Booker heaves, and both men laugh. “After the fight we put up?”

“It will be,” Nicky says, and then he’s lost to the thralls of pain again.


	13. and when they catch you they will kill you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> could not even bring myself to proofread this, i am just deadset on finishing it for you guys lol
> 
> final two chapters should be out within the week, i promise this time hksdjdf

Joe tosses his knife in the air as Copley presses play on the video. There’s nothing except Kozak, standing in front of the screen, smiling. She’s in a lab of some kind. Andy feels disgust at merely the sight of her face.

“Day Six of testing. Rudimentary removal of the heart for further testing. So far three hearts have grown back- I wonder if there’s a limit to that?”

It’s a direct taunt. This video isn’t for medical purposes, not to prove what she’s been doing. It’s to piss them off. And by God, is it pissing Andy off, and it hasn’t even started yet.

Kozak backs away from the camera, scalpel in hand, revealing the rest of the scene. Nicky is strapped down, no injuries visible other than the faint outlines of dried blood. She has no hesitation when it comes to cutting Nicky open- she just gets right to it.

Ten seconds. Nicky manages to hold out for ten seconds before he starts screaming. Quynh’s face goes bright red in anger; Nile’s fists tighten in their hold on her gun. Joe continues tossing the knife, his face impassive, but Andy can see the raw emotions in his eyes. He’s fucking pissed. He’s more angry than she’s ever seen him, so angry that he’s not even showing it. That’s- that’s true anger right there.

As for herself, she can feel her heart rate rising. She can feel the need to smash something, to grab the nearest vase of flowers and completely shatter it, to track down Kozak and New Merrick and his men and whoever else is making Nicky (and, by extension, Booker) hurt. Whoever has had a hand in this is going to die.

Copley pauses the video, and Nicky’s recorded screaming stops. Joe turns and throws his knife; it embeds itself in the wall. They’re probably going to have to pay for that.

And Andy is fuming. If she were still immortal, she’d take the whole place down by herself without a second thought. She’d fucking burn it to the ground and she’d have no regrets, none at all. She’d go to that damn skyscraper and set it alight-

“Okay,” Nile huffs. She looks just as furious as Andy feels. “Okay, we watched the damn video. Can we take them down now? Please?”

“That was only a third of it,” Copley mutters.

“I think we get the picture,” Quynh says sternly. She gets up and takes Andy’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

“We follow you, Boss,” Joe says, and there’s murder in his eyes. “What’s the plan?”

“You said Liverpool, right?” she asks Copley. It’s a basic in-and-out, something they’ve done a thousand times before, a hundred thousand times. Break-in, take no prisoners, find what they’re looking for, go. Burn the place to the ground on the way out, make sure no one is there to tell their story. Easy enough.

Still, easier said than done.

“Yes, Liverpool, a different location,” Copley says. “I haven’t been able to triangulate it yet, but I should have it done within a day.”

“We’re flying to Liverpool, then,” Andy says firmly. “Contact us with the location. Once we get them out, we’re going off-grid, and we’re not coming back for a good long time. Sound good to everyone?”

“All good here,” Joe mutters. “Townhouse in Malta. We stay there for a year, at least.”

They deserve it, Andy thinks.

“We’ve gotta get them out first, though,” she says. “They’re not going to be seeing us again- Quynh, are you up for it?”

“More than up for it,” she growls, nodding.

“Alright. Nile and I will go in first, infiltrate and take out any first waves. Joe and Quynh will breach the opposite side of the building immediately after, and we do not stop until the hallways are paved in blood, you hear me?”

Nile looks pleased that Andy’s letting her go first. Andy knows why; she hasn’t told Nile yet, but the kid has leadership potential. Someday, when Andy’s gone, even though Nile’s the youngest, she’s going to be leading this team. And someday Nile will be the oldest and still leading the team, because she has what it takes.

“Trust me, Boss,” Joe says. “We hear you.”

“We go as soon as we have the location. I know we’re angry, but don’t slip up because of it. Funnel that anger into something useful. The raw power that we have. These gifts- we’ve been given them for a reason. And right now, that reason is protecting each other.”

They’re on a plane to London within the hour, fake passports quickly handed around, labrys back in a guitar bag. No metal detectors go off, no shouts of alarm, no random pat-downs (though that may have more to do with Andy’s glare). The flight feels like it takes days, all four of them fidgeting, passing plane snacks back and forth. The closer they get, the more anxious they feel.

By the time they’ve made their connecting flight and landed in Liverpool, Copley’s sent them the location. Obviously they haven’t taken nearly as many precautions, considering how quickly Copley found them. Maybe Copley’s getting better. Either way, they’re not complaining.

“Alright,” Andy says after everyone’s suited up. She’s allowed them to force a bulletproof vest onto her, but she draws the line at them making her wear a helmet. “Everyone’s clear on what we’re doing?”

Everyone is. They have no doubts- they are getting the rest of their family back, and they’re doing it tonight.


	14. but first they must catch you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title for this & previous chapter is a quote from "watership down" by richard adams

Nicky sits up, the cold ground rough against his back. He can see Booker in the cell across from him, pacing back and forth.

“Hey, Book,” he calls. Booker startles and stops his pacing, pressing himself against the bars of his cell.

“Hey, Nicky,” he calls back. “You alright?”

“Fine, you?”

“Fine.”

They’re quiet for a moment. Nicky’s exhausted, honestly, but he figures there isn’t much he can do about it, unless he wants to pass back out and wake up with his chest being torn apart, or something.

There’s a distant rumble from somewhere in the base. Nicky pulls himself to his feet, glancing in that direction; Booker does the same.

“What do you think that was?” Booker asks, and Nicky just grins.

New Merrick storms in moments later, followed quickly by Kozak and Davies. All three look furious.

“How did they get in?” New Merrick demands. “How?”

“Well, that doesn’t matter,” Booker snorts. “If they’re in, you’re not getting them out.”

“Like parasites,” Kozak spits.

“Exactly,” Nicky says. “Like little ants under your feet. No matter how much you try and stamp us out, we’re always there.”

There are gunshots, now, getting louder. Booker and Nicky are both grinning, and the three in front of them look panicked.

“They can’t get in, can they?” New Merrick asks, turning to Davies.

“No, sir, they can’t,” Davies says, turning back to the great metal door that they came through. “The only ones with key cards are in here, and there’s no way they’re breaking that door down.”

Bullets splatter against the door from the outside. New Merrick and Kozak both jump.

“Nicky!” comes Joe’s faint voice.

“In here, my love!” Nicky calls back. More bullets hit the door.

“Shut up!” New Merrick hisses.

“How many in there?” Quynh calls. Booker whoops with joy.

“Who’s that?” New Merrick asks, turning between the two. “Have you hired friends?”

“We don’t need to,” Nicky says. “Did you really think there were so few of us? Of course there are more.”

Granted, not many more. But six is more than five.

“Three!” Booker yells to Quynh. “New Merrick, Kozak, Discount Keane!”

“Discount Keane!” comes Nile’s hoot from outside. “God, I love giving y’all my humor!”

There’s the sound of an explosion, and then the door breaks down.

“You said they couldn’t get in,” New Merrick hisses. Davies doesn’t respond- he’s too busy dealing with a bullet in the neck, courtesy of Nile. Merrick and Kozak freeze, their hands raised in surrender, guns trained on them. Nicky has never been more happy to see Joe in his entire life, and that’s saying something.

“Hello, my love!” Nicky calls. “Get us out of here, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Joe says with a soft smile. His gaze hardens as he turns on Kozak and Merrick.

“The keys,” Andy says pointedly, strolling in. There’s a cut on her cheek that’s bleeding, and several bullets embedded in her bulletproof vest. Nile, Joe, and Quynh are all covered in bullet holes and blood. Andy holds out her hand. “Now.”

Merrick tosses her the keys, and she unlocks both cells. Nicky is out and diving into Joe’s arms instantly, and this right here, pressed against Joe’s chest, he’s never felt more safe. Even with Kozak and New Merrick right there, he feels completely content.

  
Well. Not completely.

Booker is hugging both Andy and Quynh tightly, Nile keeping her gun swiveling between their two opponents. She stops when the reunions are over, though Nicky knows she’ll be demanding her hugs in a moment.

New Merrick is begging for his life. Kozak is silent.

“You hurt Nicky,” Joe starts. Nicky rests a hand on his arm.

“Have mercy, my love,” he says, and he knows he’s got that look in his eyes. Joe nods once, and then shoots New Merrick right between the eyes.

“Nicky, would you like the honors?” Andy asks, gesturing to Kozak. Nicky smiles, and Joe hands him his gun.

“Many months ago, you hurt Joe,” he says to Kozak. She blanches, backing away, but she knows her fate. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

With three swift gunshots, Kozak falls to the ground, dead.

“Alright,” Nile hoots, rushing forward to embrace Nicky. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, Nile,” he says. “Thank you.” He turns back to Joe and rests his head on Joe’s shoulder; Joe smiles.

“You smell like shit,” he says, and Nicky scoffs.

“You don’t smell much better,” he replies.

“Come on, guys,” Andy says. “Copley’s destroying any evidence of our existence online. We’re doin it physically. Let’s burn this place to the ground.”

And they do.


	15. we are not meant to be alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright i know it's been a long ride, but thank you all for being on this (incredibly spaced-out) journey with me! kudos to you all, dear readers, and thank you

“Yusuf?” Nicky asks. Joe glances down and presses a kiss to his forehead, and they both settle again. Nile and Quynh exchange a look and grin.

They’re on a ferry, taking them to Malta from the coast of Italy. It’s been a day since the rescue, and they’re all together, finally.

Andy and Quynh are at the front of the ship, pressed together, watching the waves pass by them.

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Andy mumbles. “I feel like normally it’s a lot quieter.”

  
And Quynh looks out at the great vast sea and turns and presses her face into the junction between Andy’s neck and shoulder; she is afraid of that water, but she is not running. She is here, and she is moving and breathing and if she falls, Andy will catch her.

“It’s alright,” Quynh says. “It’s been fun. I’m looking forward to seeing what the hype about Malta is.”

Andy smiles down at her and says, “Did Nile teach you that word? ‘Hype?’”

“Yeah,” Quynh says, and she reaches up on her toes to press a kiss to Andy’s jaw, and Andy is not moral any longer, but she is free, she is alive.

At the back of the boat, Booker and Nile watch Italy disappear behind them, watch the dolphins jump in the wake of the ship. They stand a few feet apart, and neither of them says it, but they’re glad that they’re there.

“So your hundred-year exile is officially over,” Nile says, trying to make conversation. “I’m glad, Book.”

“Yeah, me too,” he says. And this is the part where he pulls out a flask and takes a chug and winces as the alcohol burns his throat. But he doesn’t. He has no flask, his gaze is completely sober as he stares out at the waves.

“You know,” Nile says. “We could probably look into getting some therapy. For all of us.”

“Therapy? As immortals? How would we even talk about that?”

Nile shrugs. “You can phrase things different. I’m sure there’s a hundred analogies out there.”

He seems to be considering, and he turns and looks at her with a smile.

“Yeah,” he says. “Therapy would probably be good.”

The two turn their gaze back to the sea, watching the past disappear behind them.

Andy and Quynh, looking for the future even as the past creeps steadily closer. Nile and Booker, looking out at the past even as they head toward the future. And Joe and Nicky, sitting in the middle of the ferry, wrapped in each other’s arms, thinking only of the now.

The now, where Nicky looks up at Joe and says softly, so very softly, “I love you.”

Where Joe smiles back and doesn’t say anything in response, because for once he doesn’t need to, he doesn’t have to. They are here, they are home, and there will be time for plenty of words later.

For now, they all move steadily toward Malta, where they will be happy. Where they will rest. Where someday they will emerge, and they will continue on as they always have, making the world a better place. One day at a time.


End file.
